The Ultimate Power
by VyseN
Summary: The Valley of the End, the place were two best friends fought to their deaths. Naruto and Sasuke did the same thing, but is it really the beginning of the end? Naruto brought Sasuke back after all! This is a NarutoXBleach crossover.
1. Chapter 1

The Ultimate Power

Chapter 1: The lost family.

Many years ago, when Konoha was still young, two best friends faced each other in a fierce battle to the death. One was the first Hokage, and the other was Uchiha Madara; the father of the Uchiha clan. A nearly limitless amount of chakra and impressive jutsu was used that night as the former best friends tried to kill each other, and it resulted in the formation of a deep valley where a great leader lost his life when he realized he couldn't find the strength to kill the man he thought of as his older brother.

The Shodai Hokage died at this place, and the first Uchiha was never seen again.

The Nidaime Hokage mourned the loss of his older brother, and he decided he needed to honor the first Hokage and his beloved brother.

By his orders, many ninja got together and used their best jutsu to create two gigantic statues of the friends who had recently fought to the death at this place. Their eyes were now locked on each other's for all eternity. The last thing Nidaime did before he left the valley was the one thing he could do to show the strength of his brothers. He used his enormous control over water and created a gigantic waterfall, separating the two statues by a wall of water.

Two brothers had fought here, but now they would forever be separated by a wall created by hate and sorrow.

The Nidaime left this cursed place, and his last words were this:

"Two of the strongest ninja in this world was once united as friends, spreading love and hope among their peers. They created families, love, and a home for hundreds of people, and that is how we will remember them. My brothers were creators of life, and that is all that matters. Sadly, all good things have to come to an end!"

With that said, the Nidaime Hokage of Konoha left the newly named "Valley of the End", never to look back.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

You can say what you want about this world and its history, but there is one thing that cannot be denied; History has a way of repeating itself.

Two young boys are standing on top of the two statues in the Valley.

These two have both lived hard lives, and lost much. But they could always count on the other, as they were as close as any brothers could ever hope to be.

You may find it ironic that two brothers would once again fight to the death in this cursed place, and even more so if you knew that they were both descendants of the brothers who fought here all those years ago.

Uchiha Sasuke is the great-great grandson of Uchiha Madara, and in him lives the cursed eyes of the Sharingan. A bloodline so powerful even demons fear it at an instinctive level! His red eyes is blazing as the tomoe in his eyes spins wildly as he looks at the boy on the other side of the river.

The other boy is a blonde who has never before known how it feels to be loved by a family. This boy have met more hardships in his short time on this earth than most shinobi does over their entire lifespan. This boy is Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha Genin and the Jinchuriki of the greatest demon of all time, the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

One is loved by everyone, the other hated by all.

Now, it is time for them to decide where their lives are taking them.

Will one of them die today?

Will one escape to selfishly complete his goal to kill his older brother?

Will the one who never breaks his promises fulfill the wish of his beloved, and bring her crush back home with him?

The wind falls completely still in the valley. The only sounds you could hear is the soft grinding of teeth as Naruto looks at the uncaring glare in his brother's eyes.

"You really did it this time, didn't you Sasuke? Do you really want to throw everyone away just to kill your brother? I thought you were different than your brother Sasuke, but I guess I was wrong. There is no other choice for me than to beat some sense into that thick skull of yours and haul your ass back to Konoha."

Sasuke's eyes narrows at this.

He's nothing like his older brother!

His brother threw away the love of his family for power, and betrayed the village for his own selfish reasons. He killed his own best friend, and betrayed the trust everyone had in him as a respected member of the great family known as 'Konoha'.

How does this make him any different from his brother you ask?

It doesn't!

The problem is that Sasuke is too far gone into his own little world where everything is as he wants them to be, and he will never see the truth. Instinctively, he already knows what he has done, but there is no way back. He needs power to kill Itachi, and Orochimaru is the one who can give him that power.

A fish jumped up from the water.

When it landed the fight had already started.

Naruto launched himself at Sasuke, preparing his right fist for a vicious blow. Pulling his arm back, he reaches Sasuke and hurls his fist at his face.

Sasuke dodges the fist, leaning back to let the flying boy pass over him. Not wasting a single moment, he finds his balance and jumps up in the air while doing a series of hand seals.

Naruto lands hard on the ground, grunting from pain, but he is no stranger to physical pain. With an elegant flip of his left arm, he somersaulted over Shodai's forehead protector and lands hard on the top of the leader's head.

Blue eyes looks up at his airborne brother, and he prepares a short series of hand seals himself.

Sasuke, wanting to get rid of this pest fast, pulls air into his lungs.

"Katon: Gokakyou no Jutsu"

A giant ball of flames sprouts out of his mouth, heading for the blonde boy.

Sasuke can see Naruto's eyes widen as the fireball explodes upon impact, leaving nothing alive. Smirking to himself, he waits for the tingle in his eyes as the Mangekyo Sharingan appears. Still waiting!

Suddenly he feels a shift in the air behind him, and then pain as a foot connects with his head. Spinning wildly heading for the rocks below, Sasuke quickly regains his balance and gets control of his spin and lands neatly on the ground.

He looks over to where his friend's corpse should be, only to see a rock with a slightly glossy look lying there.

"It's Kawarimi no Jutsu jerk, a basic academy jutsu!"

Sneering, Sasuke spins around to face Naruto only to get yet another fist in his face.

"You tried to kill me Sasuke, and for that I will never forgive you!"

With an animalistic roar Naruto jumps at Sasuke again, and Sasuke does the same.

The two meets in a clash over the water, sparks flying from the kunai as the two ninja fights to survive. Both knows that they will have to finish this, there's no turning back now.

At this point, Sasuke is probably thankful for the limited time he got with his family, as they taught him real taijutsu, not some half-assed street brawling like Naruto does. Sasuke has finesse, where Naruto only has brute strength.

Still, he has to admit that Naruto's punches hurts like hell when they connect, but he will be damned before he admits it.

If there's one thing Naruto hates, it's Sasuke's trademark smirk. The holier-than-thou smirk only an Uchiha can pull off, and Sasuke has that down perfectly. Oh, how he will enjoy handing Sasuke's ass to him on a silver platter.

Naruto jumps at Sasuke again, getting ready for a roundhouse kick, but Sasuke's Sharingan predicts the movement before it's even started. He grabs hold of Naruto's pant leg and throws him down the waterfall.

"Kukukukuku! Is that the best you can do dobe? You know you can't beat me in a fair fight, so why don't you just give up and let me kill you already?"

Sasuke jumps down to the ground below, and waits for the blonde to resurface. When it doesn't happen for a little while, he knows something's wrong.

He jumps as high as he can as a pair of hands shoots out of the ground where he was standing a second ago, and the two launches themselves into another bout of taijutsu. Fists crashes into each others' faces, teeth starts cracking under the sheer force from both of them clenching their jaw and the hard punches. Naruto jumps back, just barely avoiding a kunai who would have gutted him good, but only left a small scratch on his stomach.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed again before he stands straight and faces his former teammate.

"Naruto, I want you to know that I will always remember the good times we have spent together, but now it's time to take things up a notch. You're better than I gave you credit for… brother."

As he was talking, black marks snakes their way across his face. The foul chakra from the cursed mark flows through Sasuke's system, and his eyes goes wild with pleasure and a hint of insanity.

He arcs his back and throws his head back, and then he yells at the top of his lungs with an insane laughter.

"YES! YES! THIS IS IT! THE POWER I NEED TO DEFEAT ITACHI!"

Naruto isn't looking. His eyes shaded by the bangs of his hair, after his forehead protector was ripped to shreds in their kunai fight a little while ago. His wild hair blows freely in the wind, looking as soft as fur as it gleams in the sun. His fists are clenched tightly drawing blood dripping slightly from his clenched fists as his entire body shakes from anger and sorrow.

His brother is lost!

Suddenly, Naruto whips his head up and roars on the top of his lungs. Or perhaps it would be more correct to call it a howl? Either way, it did what it was supposed to do as Sasuke's attention was now focused entirely on the boy.

"I see now Sasuke, that the person I befriended is gone. Perhaps he was an illusion all along? I don't know, and I don't care. All I know is that, Sasuke…"

Blood red slit eyes met Sasuke's Sharingan.

"I WILL BRING YOU BACK, EVEN IF I HAVE TO BRING BACK YOUR HALF DEAD BODY!"

Naruto howled again, and a giant wave of chakra even more sinister than the tainted chakra of Orochimaru's cursed seals flushed over Sasuke's body.

The sheer heat from the chakra flowing from Naruto's chakra system is enough to make even the most battle hardened shinobi wet their pants, and Sasuke can feel he was really close to doing just that. His eyes start watering to make up for the loss of humidity in the air, and it starts to get hard to breathe.

Rocks and dust starts to fly through the air around Naruto as he summons an unholy amount of Kyuubi's chakra. Sasuke's eyes widen when a tail of chakra sprouts from Naruto's lower back, and the coat of chakra took on a distinct shape.

A fox?

Naruto bares his fangs at him and disappears.

Sasuke looks around him, it looks like he's even starting to panic slightly. Where did the dead last get this much power? It's a power with enough power to even fool even his Sharingan, one of the three legendary doujutsu. This can't be!

He can't stay like this.

Powerless and weak!

He looks into his soul, or what's left of it, searching.

There! A small speck of unused power he has yet to use. He forces the power to the surface and a burning pain shoots through his body. But with the pain comes fantastic power. Power he could only dream about wielding before Orochimaru gave him this gift called the cursed seal.

With a dark laugh, his body starts transforming.

Naruto stops running in circles around Sasuke to see what's going on, only to see Sasuke's hair start growing out and turning paler every time he blinks his eyes. He can see better than any human, and the sheer amount of chakra pouring out of Sasuke is crazy even for him. Sasuke's pores start to bleed a dark brown colour, pouring over Sasuke's pale skin and turning it a grayish shade of brown. A scar-like mark appears between Sasuke's eyes which had changed colour, and with a last burst of chakra a pair of wing-like hands sprouted out of his back.

Naruto felt a lone tear stream down his face, looking at what had become of his brother. They used to be so much alike, but now… now they both looked like demons!

Naruto knows that he can't beat Sasuke with only one tail of the fox' chakra, but at this point that's his limit! He can't summon any more without losing control, and that could mean death to the young Uchiha.

The two demonic ninja stares into the other's changed eyes.

"You are more special than I gave you credit for Naruto."

Naruto looked at Sasuke, taking note of the smirk on the bastard's face. Then he blinked, and the Uchiha was gone.

He felt a presence behind him, but dared not turn around yet. He felt Sasuke's warm breath on his pointed ears.

"But I'm even more special!"

Naruto cut of the chakra to his feet and plunged into the water, narrowly dodging a clawed hand decapitating him in the progress. Returning more than enough chakra to his feet, Naruto starts shooting through the water. He creates ten clones, and they all shot out of the water at amazing speed.

Sasuke's demonic Sharingan eyes spins wildly as they see the horde of yellow coming at him. He smiled slightly and gave a small sigh. When will the dobe learn?

Sasuke started running at the rapidly approaching enemy and arched his fist back. He let a flurry of punches meet the wall of blonde ninja, and smirked as they vanished in a poof of smoke. His smirk disappeared quickly when a fist landed on the bridge of his nose, breaking it and launching him into the mountain behind him.

Naruto never lets his clones do work he could do perfectly well himself, and he was part of the attacking mass, letting one of them stay back. It was a tactic that worked well against Neji and his arrogant attitude back in the exams, and it seems the arrogance of the Uchiha works much the same way.

He smiles a sinister smile not often seen on his usually bright and cheerful face as the demonic visage of the Uchiha slowly crawls out of the hole in the wall. Sasuke dusts small rocks and dust off his ripped clothing and sends a hateful glare at his former teammate.

"Oh Sasuke, don't tell me you don't love me anymore?" Naruto asked in mock hurt, batting his eyelashes at the other boy.

With a roar, Sasuke starts flapping his wings and takes to the air. A quick series of hand seals later, he lets out a stream of fire at his enemy.

"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu"

A small army of fireballs starts raining down over Naruto, but it's nothing to someone who holds the former god of fire inside him. With a chakra induced roar, the flames go out showing the real attack.

'Look underneath the underneath, eh Sasuke?' Naruto smirked. He starts to blast chakra out of the tenketsu in the palm of his hands, and started to whirl around creating a massive dome of chakra.

"KAITEN!"

How the hell could Naruto learn a Hyuuga clan special jutsu? Sasuke was furious at the thought of Naruto knowing something he didn't, and then he remembered the fact that he couldn't copy the jutsu either and his mood fell even darker.

"Neji told me the basics of the technique, since he created it for himself since it's a main house jutsu. I may not have the control needed to do the jutsu effectively, but I soon learned that if I overloaded on chakra it would give the same effect. And if there's one thing I can afford to waste, its chakra!"

Naruto and Sasuke jumped away from each other as Naruto explained where he got that jutsu to his lost friend. Sasuke hates this! He will kill this idiot before he grows so strong it's impossible even for Orochimaru, himself or even Itachi for that matter.

Sasuke looks into the eyes of his former best friend, and he unleashed a wave of killing intent at the boy to freeze him in place. He takes hold of his right arm, and soon the sound of a thousand birds start chirping.

Chidori in hand, Sasuke starts running with speed he didn't know he possessed headed straight for Naruto. He took aim at Naruto's heart, knowing that even with his healing abilities, it still can't revive him from the dead!

Naruto's eyes widened when he saw Sasuke charging their sensei's only original technique with the intent of killing a fellow leaf ninja. Kakashi may not be the best of senseis, but Naruto holds great respect for the man. He have gone through enough tragedy to know the same pain of loneliness as Sasuke and himself, but he still keeps getting stronger for the sake of the village, and the people he has lost.

'I have only one jutsu strong enough to deal with Kakashi-sensei's jutsu… my Rasengan."

Naruto looked at his hand and started to swirl chakra around in the palm of his hand, adding power and more force as the chakra orb of legends started to appear in his hand.

Sasuke is getting closer every second, and Naruto started to feel unsure if he could deal with Sasuke without killing him. But a ninja has to know when there's no way to save a life. It's hard, but it's how they choose to live!

He had more or less resigned himself to killing Sasuke when he saw Kakashi jump out of the forest and heading right for them. Naruto could see his sensei's eye widen in fear as he saw the Uchiha run at Naruto with his own jutsu intended to kill without fail.

Naruto let the control of his Rasengan go off and it blew up in his hand, creating strong winds around him just as Sasuke was about to plunge his hand into his chest and put an end to Naruto's suffering. Maybe he should have let him?

No, Naruto never gives up!

The winds were strong enough to blow Sasuke's hand off track, and it hit Naruto straight trough the lungs instead of his heart.

"NARUTO"

Kakashi stopped as he saw Naruto get hit by his jutsu. The sorrow of losing another teammate, and this time to his own jutsu, was unbearable. But the hate he felt for the Uchiha at the moment overwhelmed him, as Kakashi did something he hadn't done in years.

He fell to his knees and cried.

Sasuke's eyes were wide as saucers as he looked at his arm. Half of his arm is stuck inside Naruto's stomach. He had killed his own best friend!

He is just like Itachi!

He didn't notice Naruto's eyes regain focus and the gurgle of blood in his throat.

"That hurt you piece of shit!"

Kakashi's ears twitched as he heard Naruto's voice.

He's still alive!

With a force unknown to man, Naruto stretched his head back and delivered a solid headbutt to Sasuke's face, knocking him unconscious.

Naruto was dragged down as Sasuke fell to the ground with his hand stuck in Naruto's lungs. He groaned in pain as he felt his inner organs start to shut down, but there was no way in hell he would let himself go.

"K… Kakashi-sensei, would you please get Sasuke's arm out of my chest. It's kind of uncomfortable, and if it's not out soon I'm afraid he will have the Mangekyo by the time he wakes up."

Kakashi ran over to Naruto and more or less ripped Sasuke's arm off when he pulled it out of Naruto's chest. As long as Naruto was alive, he had not failed his sensei again.

Naruto looked into Kakashi's eye and he could see his worry.

"One well cooked Uchiha, ready for serving Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi chuckled slightly.

If Naruto could still joke around, there should be no reason for him to worry.

"Just sleep Naruto, and I'll get us back to Konoha." Kakashi said to his student, already promising himself he would start paying more attention to Naruto as it was clear that the Kyuubi-brat of Konoha had more loyalty to the village as well as sheer ninja skill than even the last of the great Uchiha-clan.

"You did great Naruto… I'm proud of you!"

That was the last thing Naruto heard his sensei say before his world went black.

XXXXXXX

Why is it that hospitals insist on having the brightest lights and whitest rooms in the world?

That question must have been asked by several patients over the years, and this time it is Uzumaki Naruto's turn.

It's not that he's unfamiliar with the hospital, heck he's spent around 30 of his life in a hospital bed after helping villagers train their endurance and perfect their taijutsu. Isn't Naruto a saint? Helping people perfect their violent ways by letting them beat him up. That's been his life from as far back as he can remember, all the way up to the point where he earned his forehead protector.

Since the day he became a genin, the villagers haven't dared to try anything physical with the young Jinchuriki. But to be honest, Naruto preferred being beaten up over the pain from being ignored and hated. The glares cut deeper than any kunai, and the harsh whispers stings more than any fire jutsu, but he will never give up. One day the village will see that Uzumaki Naruto isn't just a strong ninja, but a loyal friend to everyone.

Oh well… a boy can dream, can't he?

So Naruto woke up in the hospital, and lucky for him he has a splitting headache. This in turn can explain why he was showing an impressive knowledge of cuss words the moment Tsunade entered his room.

"Good morning Naruto."

Naruto just grunted as a reply as she walked over to him. She took a quick look at his chart and sat down on the bed in front of him, raising her hand to his forehead. Her hand started to hum as it covered itself in a green hue of medical chakra, soothing his throbbing head and rewarding the medical ninja with a relieved sigh.

"Thank you baa-chan… I feel much better now!"

Naruto gave the woman a bright smile, which was returned quickly. It's funny how much those two look alike sometimes, even if they don't have any blood relation. But that doesn't stop Naruto from thinking of Tsunade as his aunt, or sometimes even a mother. Tsunade on her side thinks of Naruto as a bratty younger brother, but that's just because anything else would make her sound old.

That woman is in serious denial!

Suddenly Naruto found himself on the floor, staring up at a hole in the hospital bed he had spent the past couple of days in. Tsunade had punched him straight through the bed, and was staring down at him with that cocky grin only she can make look hot.

"That's for nearly getting yourself get killed for the Uchiha-traitor, you damned brat!" Tsunade yelled at him as he shakily got back on his feet.

Tsunade paged a nurse and asked her to get a new hospital bed, because the old one was… malfunctioning. Not wanting to be on the wrong side of Tsunade's fist, the nurse hurried out of the room without asking any questions.

Naruto sat down on the edge of the destroyed bed and looked at the woman, and mumbling something about old hags that were too violent for their own good, and how they should probably get laid to blow off some steam or whatever Tsunade likes to blow.

"It's not like I tried to get him to kill me, but he used the Chidori on me." Naruto said with a pout, making him strangely adorable for a thirteen years old boy.

Tsunade reached a hand over to the boy and ruffled his hair with more affection than Naruto was comfortable with. It's not that he didn't like being touched, but it's just that he didn't know if he would end up hurt afterwards. Thankfully, he knew he could trust Tsunade with his life.

Tsunade looked him in the eyes and smiled at him.

"You did good brat. The Uchiha is currently spending some quality time with Ibiki in his special room, and thankfully we have avoided the Uchiha's biggest fanclub, formerly known as The Village Council. Let's just say that if I know Ibiki right, and I'm sure I do, Sasuke's dream of repopulating Konoha with small Uchiha's will be rather hard."

The evil glint in Tsunade's eyes as she explained in great detail all the ways to painfully neuter a man made Naruto shudder and he absently reached a hand down his pants to protect his crown jewels. He must protect the world from devastation, and unite all people within our nation after all, and he can't do that without his jinglebells.

After her rant, Tsunade got back into her doctor mode.

"Do you have any pain at all Naruto? Is it hard to breathe or swallow?" she asked and put her ear to Naruto's bare chest, putting medical chakra to her ear so she could hear every single little imperfection in his body's clockwork.

Naruto just smiled at her and shook his head, since he had Kyuubi, the ultimate doctor. Heals any wound as long as it's not fatal, gives the body way better conditioning and a general boost in all aspects of his shinobi training. Kyuubi does not come with batteries!

"I'm fine Tsunade baa-chan, but thank you for the concern. It means a lot to me to know that you care even a little about me."

Tsunade threw herself at him and enveloped him in a hug Ero Sennin would kill to receive from the buxom Hokage.

"You don't know just how afraid I was to lose you Naru-chan. Your vitals were dangerously low, and your lungs were close do disintegrated by all the electrical outputs from the Chidori. I'm just glad you're ok little brother."

Naruto was speechless.

Did she call him little brother? Someone actually returns his affection? Well, that must be a first, but it's not unwelcome in any way.

Naruto launched himself at the blonde woman, hugging her with all his might. She had called him her family and he would never let her down. If she found him good enough to be her little brother, then she was more than good enough for him to call his older sister.

His much older sister, but still…

The two just sat there, cherishing the warmth they could feel from the other. Suddenly they were interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

"Well Tsunade, I didn't know you preferred your men that much younger."

The sheer perverseness in the man's voice left no doubt about his true identity as Jiraiya of the Sannin stepped into the room.

For once, Tsunade didn't punch him through a wall for embarrassing her, and she settled for a slight blush. Naruto raised an eyebrow when he noticed her blush darken when she looked at Jiraiya, which was about when he noticed that Jiraiya was wearing his west open without a shirt underneath and shoving his far above average physique to the world. The wheels started turning in Naruto's head, and a mischievous smirk made its presence clear.

Naruto had a plan.

"I'm going to go see where that new bed went, so you can sit here Jiraiya ojii-san."

Both Jiraiya and Tsunade's eyebrows rose in question to this.

"What happened with Ero-Sennin brat?" Jiraiya smirked as he made his way over to the bed and helped his student to his feet.

"I guess I can show you a little more respect, since it was your training that saved my life this time. Since I don't have any family of my own, I decided that you're more or less how I would visualize the funny and slightly perverted uncle, and Tsunade obaa-chan is like the aunt with the explosive temper. The two of you are my family whether you like it or not!"

With that said, Naruto left two speechless Sannin in the room and left to find his new bed. He didn't want to stay much longer in this hellhole of a hospital, but it was fine if he somehow tricked Jiraiya and Tsunade to realize their feelings for each other. He had heard Jiraiya actually cry himself to sleep talking about how Tsunade had broken his heart one too many times, and now he knew that she had developed feelings for the Super pervert as well.

"If they marry, I'm so getting the first piece of the cake!"

XXXXXXXX

Three hours later, Naruto returned to his room to an unexpected sight.

The two people he respected more than anyone else in this world, and loved as his family were making out like horny teenagers on HIS bed in HIS room.

"Please you two, get your own room. I'm going to sleep in that bed you know and I don't want any funk in my sheets!"

At least the two Sannin rewarded him with a healthy tint of red on their cheeks, and Tsunade was quick to run off because of "some nurse paging her to ER" or something. Naruto just smirked at his sensei and sat down.

"See ojii-san, I knew it would happen if I just gave the two of you enough time alone. Thank God I got back when I did though, or else it could have been even more awkward." Naruto received a blow to the head for this comment. Nice huh?

"I… Oh, who am I kidding gaki? I've loved her for forty years now, so I guess it was time for me to admit it both to myself and her. And I'm glad I did, but that's not why I came here."

Jiraiya was rambling now, and he doesn't make much sense.

"Ok, tell me why you came here then. I'm sure Tsunade-chan wouldn't mind spending some time with you after this. Just don't do anything perverted or hurt her, because I would be forced to kill you!"

Jiraiya laughed.

He actually laughed when Naruto threatened his life.

Bastard!

"Oh brat, you are one of the funniest people I have ever met. But enough about that! I came here for two reasons. One is to visit my favorite pupil and price student, the defeater of the rogue Sharingan. The next reason was to tell you about a tournament in honor of a woman returning with her family to Konoha after her husband died in the Kyuubi attack. She's actual royalty, as she was the crown princess of a dead country, so she's kind of a V.I.P in this village."

Naruto is excited about the prospect of a tournament where he could show the fruit of his training to everyone, but he didn't quite understand what this had to do with him. He didn't care about nobles, and if he did, the Hyuuga clan would be more than snobbish enough for him to use as a reference.

Could it be that this woman hated him for the same reasons the village did?

Because the Kyuubi is trapped inside him, she thinks he IS the actual demon, and not only the jailor of the beast? It's not like he could have just told the Yondaime 'Thanks but no thanks, go find another kid to sacrifice for the village'… he was a fucking newborn the moment the damn fox was sealed inside him.

Ok, so the fox gave him a power great enough to be classified as a lesser bloodline, but does that make him the fox? Just because he got abilities from the sealing, doesn't make him the beast itself.

Damn villagers who can't trust their greatest hero and his seal. If it was someone else that was sacrificed, and Naruto knew, he wouldn't hold it against them. He may not be the smartest ninja from his graduation class, but he was far from stupid. He knows that if you seal something away, it doesn't make them that thing!

If you seal a sword into a scroll, and then hit a person with that scroll, will it cut like the sword? I don't think so!

And what about the Aburame-clan? They have thousands of bugs inside their bodies, but do the villagers think that they are bugs? No, they can see that they are ordinary people like themselves, only with a creepy ability. Naruto isn't that different!

But he is more than used to the hate and scorn, so he knows how to deal with it.

"Ok ojii-san, why do you tell me about this VIP? I'm sure I would have found out at the tournament if she's as important as you say."

Naruto could practically see Jiraiya's discomfort as he squirmed in his seat, his palms are sweaty and his irises are slightly diluted.

"Naruto, this woman is related to you."

Naruto was shocked at this. He had actual family? Who could she be? Maybe she's an aunt or a cousin or something? Now he knows why Jiraiya was uncomfortable. If he has family and they know he's alive, that means that they don't want him and shuns him as much as the village.

Jiraiya noticed the look of confusion in Naruto's sky blue's, and decided now was as good a time to tell him as any.

"Naruto, this woman is called Uzumaki Kushina…"

Naruto knows he have heard this name somewhere before.

"She was the wife of my former student, Namikaze Minato…"

Of course, Naruto knows the name of his idol. The same man who gave his life to save the village from the Kyuubi, the Yondaime Hokage.

"She's coming here for the tournament where her daughter will fight, and it takes place on her daughter's birthday. It's in her honor actually…"

So the Yondaime's wife and daughter were coming, and they had some sort of relation to him? Of course they will hate him like everyone else, and he couldn't blame them. After all, he was carrying the heavy burden that is also the bane of many loved ones of the people in this city. These two lost their husband and father.

"When I found a picture of Uzumaki Kushina and her daughter, Namikaze Uzumaki Hikari, I had Tsunade-chan do a blood test to find out just what her connection with you is…"

Naruto's hands are sweaty now. He may get to know something about his family, and maybe even something about his parents.

What Jiraiya said next wasn't something he had expected though, as it made his world come crashing down on him and making him feel even more horrible than before.

"Uzumaki Kushina is your mother Naruto, and her daughter is your twin sister and younger than you by two minutes."

Two minutes?

Two minutes was the time that it took for his life to fly down into the gutter, and his sister to get to grow up with their family. They had both abandoned him and left him to grow up to daily beatings and hate. He didn't learn the warmth of a simple hug until he was eleven years old.

Jiraiya could see the look in Naruto's eyes, and he felt his heart ache. He was the one who had married Kushina and Minato all those years ago, and he was supposed to be Naruto and Hikari's godfather. He had thought that Kushina had fled with both her children after the Kyuubi attack, and that the seal had just transferred pieces of Minato to Naruto after the Kyuubi-sealing. But he was wrong! He could have saved the boy from his pain many years ago, but he didn't. And Naruto had to suffer for it!

Jiraiya scooped the young boy into his arms and gave him a fatherly hug, feeling Naruto's body start shaking.

And then, for the first time in many years… Uzumaki Naruto cried.

**v**

**AN****/ OK guys, I know! I should spend my time updating my other ****fics****. But here's the thing; ****You**** know when you wake up one morning, and you remember your dream? Well, this happened to me this morning. Yesterday I read a lot of ****NarutoXBleach**** crossovers, and found out that I loved it. So when I woke up this morning, and remembered this really long dream about Naruto with his ****Bankai****, I just had to start writing. When I started it though, I had no idea it would be so much fun to write a fight scene and I ended up with 6000 words in the first chapter alone. None of my other ****fics**** have gotten that far yet, so it was kind of a practice run for me as well. So well, this is the first of many chapters in my ****NarutoXBleach**** crossover. The story will start next chapter (not started yet, but will do tomorrow) where Naruto will… ! **

**There will be a pairing in this story, but I have yet to decide which one I want. It will be Naruto and one of the Bleach shinigami girls, but whom? I'm leaning most towards ****Yoruichi****, but only time will see!**

**So once again, I'm sorry for the delay with my other stories. The reason I have yet to update Scarlet Flash is that damned .****docx**** shit Windows use in Word 2007, but it's over 3000 words long at this point since it contains a lot of talking with the fox. The next update will either be Scarlet Flash or ****Kyozetsukan****, with ****Trying**** it on for Size coming up shortly after that. Until then, check out my ****favourites**** for some golden gems you need to read.**

**See ****ya**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The tournament

It has been two months since Naruto had learned about his family.

At first, he had been angry at his deceased father, and felt like he had been thrown away like you would throw away a piece of trash. He felt like trash to for a while.

But lucky for him, Naruto has people who care now.

Jiraiya explained to him how his father had worked on other seals for weeks, without letting himself sleep even a second if it meant he could save his child from being used as a sacrifice. But the life of a shinobi isn't that kind!

Namikaze Minato had died sealing the Demon King into his own son. A son he would never get to see grow up.

Jiraiya told him about how Minato had been ecstatic when Kushina told him they were expecting. He had grown up as an orphan himself, and couldn't wait to spoil his own children rotten. He had driven both Jiraiya and Kakashi crazy with his rants about how his daughter would be the most beautiful flower in the village, and how his son would be the man who surpassed him, both in skill and popularity with the ladies.

Minato had fangirls!

Minato was sure his son would have a horde of his own, and he couldn't wait to teach his son every little trick he knew about how you ditch a rampaging flock of lovesick fangirls out to get your seed. It's a harsh way to say it, but it doesn't make it any less true.

That was part of the reason why Minato had fallen for Kushina in the first place.

When he first laid his eyes on the red headed Amazon, he was sure the woman would be the death of him. She was rude and violent, and always spoke her mind. Strangely enough, that was the key factors to why Minato eventually fell in love with her.

He had spent weeks trying to trick the woman into a date, with no luck.

For a man who was used to women throwing themselves at him, this was both new and refreshing. He needed this woman, and he would make her his!

This man wasn't known as the greatest shinobi ever for nothing, and after months of constant bickering, he finally got her to agree to one date. He had dragged the woman up to the Hokage monument where he had laid out a beautiful picnic for the two of them. Who would have thought the Yondaime Hokage was a great cook? Well, he was, and that was one of the elements of surprise that worked in his favor. At the end of the night, he made Uzumaki Kushina his.

Not five weeks later, Kushina told Minato she was pregnant.

And ever since that day, Minato had turned even crazier than usual, talking about nothing but how great his children would be.

Son of the greatest Hokage - the most wanted bachelor in all of the elemental countries, and the loudest and most surprising kunoichi ever to set foot in Konoha. There was no doubt in Minato's mind that his children would be great. That their children would be great!

At the end of this story, Naruto knew that even if his father had sealed the demon inside him, he had still loved him all the way up to his last breath.

Namikaze Minato died with a smile on his face, knowing that his son would turn out just fine.

Naruto has already forgiven his father.

He did what he thought was best for Konoha, like a true Hokage should. Naruto didn't doubt he would do the very same thing if he was in his father's shoes having to choose the lives of the village over his own son.

No, his father was forgiven.

His mother however, he could just not forgive that easily.

That woman had left him to his misery in a town where no one would show him love. She had forsaken her husband's legacy because of her petty hate.

Sure, he could understand her grief when the man she loved, the father of her children gave his life to save the village. But she should have trusted him!

She should have trusted her husband's skill with sealing jutsu, and she should have respected his final wish to take care of their children and give them enough love to make up for him not being there.

She only complied fifty percent of that deal when she took her daughter and left the Fire country only to run back to her own home, a home that no longer existed.

Naruto had grown up hated by everyone in his city.

All alone!

No, that wasn't entirely true.

There was some villagers who just didn't care, and didn't shun nor like the boy. He was just yet another Konoha brat. He also had the Hokage, but the old man couldn't take care of a little boy and the entire village at the same time.

Sadly for Naruto, the majority lucked out and he was left alone.

His first five years was spent in the village orphanage where he was treated ok.

Don't get me wrong, he was still hated like if he was the Kyuubi itself, but no one hired by the Hokage would dare lift a hand to hurt the boy when they knew both their jobs and perhaps even their lives would be forfeit.

But there is other ways to abuse a child without raising your hand to strike.

Naruto was always trying to make the other kids to like him by doing pranks and acting like an idiot, but he was never accepted by the other orphans. The other children took great pleasure in trying to get the dobe to cry, and they teased him about his whisker marks and blonde hair saying no shinobi clan had that particular shade of yellow locks.

The kids also found it fun to see how much they had to beat on him before he started crying or begging for them to stop, with the latter being their absolute favorite. When the little boy begged for them to stop hurting him, they would always laugh and just leave him.

But Naruto never gave up.

He continued to try to make friends, but it was hard. If the adults had just tried to stop the other children from hurting him, perhaps they would eventually take pity on him or learn that what they did was wrong. Naruto never ever raised his own hand to strike back, and always just stood there and took the punishment. His precious person, Sarutobi ojii-san had told him that a good person would never hurt people when there is no need, and only use violence if it's a necessity. Naruto had taken his advice to heart, and just let them hurt him.

After years of being alone, it was perhaps as much of a surprise to Naruto as it is to us that he found someone to keep him company. But it was not human company.

Naruto's only childhood friend was, strangely enough, a little fox kit who had started playing with him in the woods outside the village walls. The little fox was Naruto's comfort when Naruto was sad, and it was never far away if he needed someone to just sit and listen to him. It couldn't talk back, but that wasn't the point. Naruto just needed someone to relay his misery upon, and the fox chose to carry his burden with him.

It was when Naruto had finally graduated from the Genin Academy that things had started to look up for him, and he had met his second precious person, Umino Iruka, the first teacher to ever give a shit about Naruto's education.

Being his teacher, Iruka had seen how Naruto was treated by the other children and somehow felt like he could relate. He had grown up an orphan himself, so it wasn't that hard to see that they both knew the pain of being alone and ignored… albeit for two different reasons.

After Iruka, Naruto had met his Genin team.

Hatake Kakashi, the famous Copy Ninja said to have copied over 1000 jutsu and the creator of one of the most famous assassination jutsus in the entire shinobi world, the Chidori.

Kakashi was, and still is a weird person. When he was younger, Kakashi had gone through shinobi ranks like Chouji through barbeque, fast and full of grace. He was trained by the very person Naruto looked up to as a child, who later was revealed to be his own father, the Yondaime Hokage.

During one of his missions, Kakashi had lost his best friend in an enemy attack. His teammate had been an Uchiha, and he had just activated his bloodline. Sadly, he was crushed under a boulder after saving Kakashi, and his last wish was for their other teammate to transplant his Sharingan eye into the empty socket where Kakashi's left eye had used to be before it was destroyed.

That day was the day Kakashi realized he had been acting like an arrogant brat, and it also marked the day where he mastered his only original jutsu for the first time.

Kakashi had grown on Naruto though.

At first, Naruto was sure that Kakashi did everything he could to piss him off. He was as arrogant as any full-blooded Uchiha, and as perverted as… a really perverted man! Ok, not the best description, but it was all that mattered to Naruto.

After training with him for a couple of weeks, trying to get to see his sensei's face when he removed his mask for some reason, he had realized that Kakashi had become something more to him than a sensei type. He was more like how Naruto had imagined how it was to have an older brother, or perhaps even a father. So Kakashi, even though he was a lazy ass and always trained Sasuke, ended up being one of his precious people and he knew he would give his life for the older man in the blink of an eye.

The next person to accept him was the very same person who ended up pushing their sensei's precious original jutsu straight through Naruto's lungs. Uchiha Sasuke, the coldest SOB Naruto had ever met.

In the academy, Naruto had never really gotten to know Sasuke at all. He knew what had happened to Sasuke's family, and he respected Sasuke for continuing on with his life. However, he also hated him for the fact that everyone loved the cold bastard and he never gave anyone the light of the day.

Uchiha Sasuke loves only himself and power.

That was directly quoted from one of Naruto's other friends, Nara Shikamaru. The guy was too smart for his own good sometimes, but he really ended up nailing Sasuke with that one.

But even though they were rivals, Naruto couldn't deny the fact that Sasuke and himself was in a strange type of hate/respect relationship, which was good enough for Naruto. He had really thought that Sasuke was his friend, but I guess he was wrong. A friend doesn't shove lightning covered hands through your chest with deadly force.

Oh well, Sasuke had been and probably still is one of his precious people, and he will not let him be hurt if it was within his power to do anything to prevent it.

Kakashi said it best after all.

"Those in the ninja world who break the rules are scum, that's true. But those who abandon their friends... are lower than scum."

Naruto isn't the greatest ninja in the world, but there's no way he's lower than scum!

His last teammate and former crush, Haruno Sakura, is now his best friend. She may have been one of his tormentors in the academy, and she always treated him like dirt when they were around Uchiha Sasuke or Yamanaka Ino in the start of their genin careers, but after Naruto saved her life a couple of time she kind of got used to being around him, and found him to be funnier than she would ever admit. Not to herself, nor to anyone else!

Even though Sakura never returned the amorous feelings he felt towards her, she had turned out to be a good friend, and he figured that was better than her hating his guts. He gave up on her the moment she begged him to bring Sasuke back, knowing that she would never be his.

When he had returned with the traitor Uchiha, he had half expected her to blow up on him because he had been the one who hurt Sasuke. But to his great surprise, she was more concerned about the wounds he had received in their fight.

When she visited him in the hospital she had cried and begged Naruto to forgive her for her selfish request that ended up with him being closer to death than ever before.

Naruto, being the goofball he was so well known for had flashed her his foxiest grin and laughed, patting her on her pink covered head and promising that he didn't mind. He more or less told her how she was one of his precious people, and that he would put his life on stake for her happiness any day of the week.

But alas, Naruto is a boy. If there is one thing men can honestly say they will never understand, it's how a woman's psyche works.

Sakura left the hospital after giving Naruto a hug and a black eye, leaving him with very conflicting and confusing feelings.

So as you can see, even though he grew up under harder conditions than any other orphan could ever say they did, Naruto had turned out ok.

So this brings us to the present time, October 2, a couple of days before the tournament would start. He had trained like never before the last two months, and Kakashi had even taught him how to train using his Kage Bunshin. It was bloody brilliant I tell you!

Who would have guessed that he could train for several years over the course of two months? Well, Kakashi did. He had shown Naruto how everything a Kage Bunshin learns while it's alive, the user learns as soon as the Bunshin dispels itself. If destroyed, the memories and feedback will be scrambled though, which is why he couldn't just create as many clones he used in the training, because he wouldn't be able to dispel them if he didn't have enough chakra.

Another slight setback was the fact that a Bunshin is a condensed amount of chakra, meant to look and act as the user, meaning it's not an actual body. So that means that he couldn't use his clones to grow physically stronger.

So he created about a thousand clones (he had to take it easy you know), and had six hundred of them go learn as much from the Konoha library as humanly possible, and then some. The rest of the clones spent their time on chakra control, walking on boiling water, hovering over red hot steel, negating the force of a waterfall while it stood underneath the horrendous power from the waterfall itself… the methods were many, and Naruto had done them all over the past two months.

Actually, Kakashi said he had as good chakra control as he could ever wish to get after only one month, and had taught him about his affinity for wind instead.

The real Naruto spent both months training his body together with Lee and Gai. He has new respect for the two crazy people now, after joining them in a five hour swim with five hundred kilograms of rocks on your back. Naruto is still feeling bloated from all the water he managed to ingest.

So here he is, after two months, in better shape than ever. His chakra control was out of this world, his chakra pools had grown to six times what they were only three months before and his head hurt like hell as he was still processing the sheer amount of knowledge his clones had achieved after reading close to the entire fucking library. He now knows the theory of just about every jutsu Konoha shinobi had ever used or witnessed, he is sure he could probably use some of them as well.

But there is one thing that's pissing him off!

He had just read a poster for the tournament, and it said "Only for chunin and higher", which means that he couldn't participate because he is still a genin.

Now, he's storming towards Tsunade's office to complain and most likely get his ass handed to him on a silver platter from the temperamental Hokage.

The scowl on his usually cheerful and smiling face makes some of the villagers jump away from his path as he makes his way through the streets.

"What am I? A fucking juggernaut or something?"

The angry blonde forced his way through the tight line of people seeking an audience with the Hokage. For some reason, some of the people waiting in line didn't enjoy having the blonde genin force himself past him and others.

They smirked to themselves as they thought about how the brat's face would look when the secretary and ANBU in charge of the audiences shot him down. However, their smirks quickly disappeared the second the fuming blonde reached the end of the line and was waved straight into the office.

A round of groans was heard from the lines, and some even dared to shout at the ANBU guarding the door. Let's just say they didn't need an audience with the Hokage anymore, and just left… shall we?

Tsunade herself was having a bad day.

Today she had to do actual work, and loads of it at that. People is showing up from all over the Fire country, and they all seek an audience with her where they would most likely whine about how their village needed funding, and she would shoot them down. This would lead to paperwork, which would lead to a headache when she woke up from her sake induced sleep the next morning.

But her day brightens immediately when her door was opened and a certain blonde shinobi of hers entered her office, and she did take note of his uncharacteristic pout.

"Tsunade-chan, what's the deal with this?" he yelled and slammed a piece of paper onto her desk.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at the boy.

"Tsunade-chan now is it? What happened to baa-chan?" she said with a slight chuckle, completely ignoring the piece of glossy paper on her desk.

"I won't be calling you that anymore if you don't want me to, now that you're dating Ero-Sennin, and you're more like a mother to me than a grandmother anyway." Naruto said, getting a slight gasp from the woman behind the desk in front of him. "But that's not why I'm here, I want to know about this! Why did you have me train my ass off for the last two months if I won't be able to participate in the tournament because I'm not of high enough rank?"

Tsunade looked shell shocked. The boy she had met just a couple of months ago had just admitted he held her in such high regards, even knowing that his birth mother is still alive.

"Why did you say that? Don't you know that your own mother is still alive, and that you will see her in less than a week?"

Tsunade is visibly tearing up now. She had always wanted a child of her own, but when Dan died she lost all hope of ever having a family of her own.

Naruto sighed loudly and walks around her desk and pulls the crying woman into a gentle embrace. He can feel her body shake slightly in his embrace before she manages to get a hold of her soaring emotions and he pulled away. He sits down on the desk and looks her straight in the eyes, blue eyes meets brown as the two connects with each other.

"From as far back as I can remember I have imagined how my life would be if I had parents. I used to imagine myself and my mother, and I think I made up an ideal version of how I wanted my own mother to be. Strict yet loving, strong and confident, a kind and understanding woman who would love me for who I am, not what I am. I guess you just reminded me of how I wanted my own mother to be, and I found myself wishing you were my mother."

Tsunade is crying now, but her face has a huge smile reaching from one ear to the other as Naruto continues his heartfelt speech.

"When Jiraiya told me my mother was alive, and that she was coming here I was furious at first. Years ago I decided to stop crying and take everything people could throw at me in a stride, but when I found out that she had just left me to rot in a place where everyone hates me where I grew up to frequent beatings and hospital visits, I couldn't hold it back anymore. I had promised myself to never cry, but I felt so small… like the worst kind of trash. How could I feel good about myself when my own mother threw me away and left me to this life all alone?"

While he talks, twin streams of salty tears runs down Naruto's cheeks. His heart hurts, and it's hard to talk and breathe at the same time as his voice start to crack and his words comes out in small hiccups.

"But then I asked myself one thing. Has she ever been my family at all? Is she a person I will call mother, a woman I can forgive for all my years of hurt? I don't even know her. Then I was shocked because whenever I thought of my mother, the image in my head was different from what it used to. I used to see myself with a blonde woman without a face, but now the woman had a face… your face! So I came to realize that in the short time I have known you, I have come to think of you as my mother. A woman I can respect and look up to, and I trust you with my life. Out of all my precious people, I must say you and Jiraiya is the most important people in my life as you remind me of my childhood dream about my ideal family."

Tsunade couldn't take it anymore, and launched herself into the waiting arms of the boy she had now come to think of as her own. She feels a part of her that she had thought she had lost when Dan and Nawaki left her all those years ago. It is the feeling of belonging to someone, to a family. She felt so much lighter, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders.

She looked at the door on the other side of the room as she held the boy who had just made her icy heart start beating again, and she could have sworn she saw Dan and Nawaki smile at her from the edge of her sight.

'They must be telling me to move on, and try loving again.'

She separated from her son and held him at an arm's length, studying the orange clad boy from top to toe. Naruto was feelings slightly uncomfortable from her look, but he could bear with it if it is her. He looked into brown eyes again, and he could see the love and warmth radiating off her person, and they both smiled a true smile both for their own sake and the other's.

Then suddenly, Tsunade's smile was gone.

"No son of mine is going to go around dressed like an idiot!" Tsunade said in a tone reserved for mothers scolding their children. Naruto can't help but chuckle a little bit at that, since Jiraiya had more or less said the same thing only a couple of days prior to this meeting.

He was about to argue when he suddenly remembered why he came see her in the first place.

"Wait… You never answered my question! I still want to be in the tournament, and I have trained for years the past two months, believe it or not."

A light seemed to enter his surrogate mother's eyes as he looked into them, and a devious smirk overtook her pretty features.

"I was coming to that Naru-chan. The reason why I had you train your hardest these past two months is because of a certain jounin sensei of yours, and his claim that you should have joined Shikamaru in the ranks of Chunin after the exam. I have watched your fight with Neji from the security tapes in the stadium, and I have to agree with Kakashi. You shoved impressive skill and tact in that fight, and you have shoved many times over that you're not afraid to take a hit if it's necessary for reaching your goal. A chunin needs to have a clear mind, above average mastery of their jutsu and the ability to make hard decisions. When you and your friends started after Sasuke, you along with Shikamaru made the right decisions and left behind your team, and left the correct shinobi for each foe. You left them behind, but you were always with them in your heart, and that's one of the most important things Konoha looks for in a chunin; the ability to cherish their team and not forget them, yet being able to stay focused."

Tsunade leans over and reaches for something she had kept underneath her desk. Naruto raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't bother asking since he was sure she would get to the case soon enough.

His eyes, blue as the sky, goes wide as a dinner plate when he sees what she produced from her secret compartment under her desk.

A Chunin vest in glorious green, and the name Uzumaki Naruto embroidered onto the chest pocket.

"Genin Uzumaki Naruto, please come before my desk."

Naruto jumps over her desk and quickly takes his place in front of Tsunade's desk, keeping his arms tightly to his body and standing straight as a pole in front of his commander and mother.

"Genin Uzumaki Naruto, do you swear to use your abilities as a shinobi in the name of your village. To protect and fight for the villagers, and the will of fire?"

Naruto nods his head once.

"Then it is my pleasure to introduce you, Uzumaki Naruto, into the ranks of Konoha Chunin." Tsunade says with a bright smile while still keeping her work-tone online, handing the vest over to the boy in orange.

"I'm proud of you Naruto… my son!"

If Naruto's smile had been any wider at that point, it would have reached all around his head and his top half would have fallen off from lack of support. Luckily he managed to keep it at a minimum, yet it gave him a very vulpine look.

A split second after he had received his Chunin vest, he finds himself once again in the arms of his Hokage turned mother, and he held on with all his strength.

Now there's nothing that can stop him from entering the tournament, and he looks over to the date so he would know just when he would fight.

October 10th.

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX

Naruto has two days left before the tournament, and he is adamant with his training. He is going to impress his estranged sister and the woman who gave birth to him, even if it cost him everything, or what little he has.

As we speak, Naruto is standing under the thundering torrents of a raging waterfall, letting it fall on his shoulders. This exercise is supposed to both increase his balance and his will, and the sheer amount of pressure he is experiencing right now even serves to increase upper body muscle mass.

He has been camping at the waterfall for the last week, training his body. He also has around a thousand Kage Bunshin working on their wind jutsu, and every day he finds himself mastering new jutsu and new ways of moving his body. He is faster and more agile than ever before, and the best of all is that he is the only person in the world that can do this kind of training.

Maybe having the fox trapped inside him isn't that bad anyway?

Pleased by his progress, Naruto steps out of the waterfall and walks along the water to the shore. His body has changed in the short time since he started living out in the forest for his training, and he could swear that he had grown a couple of inches. Well, he lives off the nature around him, fishing or hunting for his food and drinking water from the river, and it has done him good.

"I really have to cut my hair soon… it's getting too long" he chuckled to himself, running his fingers through the golden strands of hair on his whiskered head. His hair now reaches down to his shoulders, and is left in an unruly mess due to him forgoing his forehead protector since he doesn't want it dirty before the fights.

Some of the village girls had been caught by ANBU as they sneaked out of the village to spy on the blonde Adonis, but they never got to stay long. It's strange right, how strictly the village forbids their young ones to leave the safety of the village walls. Can they really feel free living like that?

But that's not why we're here, is it? We're spying on Uzumaki Naruto as he is getting dressed.

His muscles are more defined after months of nonstop training, and he has worked himself so hard his muscles has been broken and remade by the fox, and it resulted in accelerated growth. His abs is rock hard, and many of the girls would give their left hand to a hungry wolf if it meant they could run their right ones over his fit body. Yes, girls can also be perverts… I'm as surprised as you are!

But Naruto is a man of the shinobi code, and he has no time for petty romance. He had just recently gotten over his long time crush on Haruno Sakura after all, and he doesn't need to face another arrow barrage from that blasted baby in the diaper who takes great delight in firing heart shaped arrows at him every time there's a beautiful girl nearby. Damn brat should go shoot someone who wants him to.

What? You don't believe in Cupid? Just you wait until the day comes when you will be hit by his arrow, and I'm sure you will eat your own words.

Naruto pulls on his long necked shinobi sweater, as usual in the standard blue colors used by most Chunin. Grabbing his green vest he snaps it on in a quick motion and reaches for his pants, which surprisingly enough doesn't scream "KILL ME, I'M HERE!" anymore.

Sakura and Ino had ambushed him after he had spoken to his new mother a week ago, and had taken him shopping to celebrate. They had him and Gama-chan spend everything they had on clothes, and now he owned several blue shinobi sweaters, a couple of black shirts, four new pants and switched his shinobi sandals with shoes.

Try as they might, Sakura and Ino could not get him to buy anything that was not orange in their day of shopping, but they did well either way. His new pants was split in two parts, split in two down the middle of the pant legs from his belt and all the way down. The innermost part is a dark red shade, and the outer part is Naruto's trademark orange, albeit slightly darker for stealth.

All in all, Naruto had gone through a transformation from an ugly duckling to a beautiful swan during the time after he hauled Sasuke's ass back home.

His father had been right you know.

Naruto HAS fangirls now!

Actually, he has entire fanclubs in many towns outside Konohagakure's borders, and many girls falls asleep with a smile on their face and Naruto on their minds. Their dirty female minds!

But Naruto as we know him is in total denial of this fact, as he believes himself to be undesirable for women. He sure is stupid that boy, but a genius ninja no doubt.

Suddenly his keen hearing picked up the sounds of someone running in the forest. It must be at least ten, maybe as much as twenty sets of feet. It sounds like there are two persons running from someone, or something, and Naruto is not a ninja for nothing. He will not have bandits and such doing their business in HIS forest!

Taking off at incredible speed, a yellow and red blur zips through the dense forest, heading straight for the people who had now stopped. His feet kicked off the trees with such force the entire tree groans under the pressure, but hot damn he's fast. His chakra control is close to Tsunade's own, and with his immense chakra pools that's saying something. He could be a medic ninja if he wanted, and probably a damned good one to. But he was never the healing type either way, and prefers to just kill the old fashioned way… with a really flashy jutsu!

When you are running at speeds this great, it demands great concentration from the runner, since the wind can be harsh on the eyes at times. It's a lucky break for Naruto that his chakra affinity is wind, right?

He has created a thin film of wind natured chakra to cover his eyes, negating the force of the wind and allowing him to see clearly even at speeds like this. So in less than a minute, Naruto covered a lot of grounds until he reached a small clearing in the forest where he stopped on one of the branches to observe whatever happens.

There, against a tree stands two red headed women back to back. Both stands in a well developed taijutsu stance focusing on defense, and Naruto can see clearly that they are very skilled. However, he can see that the twelve men surrounding them are the same or better.

The younger of the two women looks frightened, and the older woman grabs her hand in a gentle squeeze, telling her that it will be ok.

Suddenly, one of the bandits started laughing.

"I'm not sure what's funnier. The two of you lasting this long against us, or the fact that you think the two of you alone can beat twelve jounin." This was probably the leader of the merry group, as the others just snickered silently to themselves and nodded in approval of the man's statement.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, and he could see the women do the same as the older one started shaking in righteous fury.

"Oh, did I strike a nerve with that one wench? Don't worry, we're not going to kill you… yet. I'm sure my men would want to sample your beauty after we have subdued you before we sell you to our dealer. Two pretty flowers like yourselves will fetch a nice price on the black market."

Naruto noticed the man signal his men to get ready for attack, and he calmed down. There's not much that can make Uzumaki Naruto angry, but when he see ninja use their strength to rape and steal he is very close to losing his calm.

The older woman noticed the signal and got ready to defend herself and her daughter, even if it cost her either her arms or even her own life. But suddenly, one of the men just dropped dead on the ground as his head separated from his shoulders.

"Who's there?" the leader of the group yelled out in the forest. He can't fight an enemy he can't see, can he?

A soft chuckle started to enter their ears from every direction, and the men is looking around as they closes in on a panic attack.

Another thud rung in between the forest as another man fell to the ground, this time with his throat slit and heart pierced.

"Two down… ten to go" was the statement from the mystery attacker in the forest.

The two women looks around, trying to find out where their savior is coming from, but neither of them has any luck spotting the man. He must be way to fast even for their experienced eyes.

"Sh-show yourself you coward" the leader yelled on the top of his lungs, his eyes wide in fear for his own ass.

A soft thump was heard behind him, and he felt the breath of someone behind him as the man leaned towards his ear.

"The Kaze no Yaiba is really handy at times, wouldn't you say so?"

The leader turned around in a flash and faced their mystery enemy face to face. His eyes widens in surprise as he sees the man… no, the boy standing there in front of him. He can't be older than fifteen, but he had just shown his strength as he took the life of two of his men without breaking a sweat.

"KILL HIM!" he roared, and the remaining men took out kunai and various weapons and charged at the young blonde.

The women could only stare at the grace this man moved with, as his invisible sword of wind cut through the men like a warm knife through butter.

Now, standing over a covering leader, Naruto sneered at the man.

"Do you know what your biggest mistake was today?" he asked, only to receive a rather rude gesture from the frightened man.

Chopping the man's finger off, he continues as he ignores the screams of the man on the ground in front of him.

"You pissed me off when you threatened to rape two women. That's your worst mistake, but the other one was the fact that they probably wouldn't have let you off this easy if I hadn't killed your men."

Naruto noticed the women's eyes widen as they heard that he knew their strength.

"But… you're just a lowly chunin. How could you defeat twelve jounin without getting hit at all?"

Naruto frowns at this.

Did this rat just question his skill based on his rank?

Oh, he will enjoy killing this one!

"You're only half right… I'm a LOVELY chunin!" he exclaimed and beheaded the man in a swift motion.

He turned towards the women, taking notice of their giant sweatdrops after hearing his last statement. A lovely chunin is it? Well, they couldn't deny fact.

"Are you ok? They didn't hurt any of you at all, did they?"

The women can hear the worry in his voice and gave him twin smiles revealing their blood relation to anyone and everyone.

"No, we are fine thanks to you." the oldest of the women said, still with her smile intact. She also took great pleasure in seeing the blonde blush cutely from the attention.

"How can you be so strong when you don't look any older than me?" the girl asked their savior.

Naruto just shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't have anyone who cares for me, so I have lots of time to train I guess. I lost my family fourteen years ago when a demon attacked my village, and I have lived all alone my entire life."

It couldn't be healthy, but the redhead duo's eyes widened even more at that, before the oldest pulled the boy into a hug and was quickly joined by her daughter.

Naruto's breath caught in his throat.

He had only had two people hug him like this before, and that's Tsunade and Jiraiya. Before he knew it, he was returning the hug with his arms around both girls.

After breaking off the hug, the oldest woman took his hand.

"I know how you feel. I lost my son and husband in that very same attack, and now I only have my daughter left. My father was traveling with us to Konoha, but he was killed by the bandits you just slayed less than an hour ago." the woman said, tears streaming down her face.

Naruto squeezed her hand gently, silently telling her he was sorry for her loss.

"If you want, I can take you to the village and then go retrieve your father's body for you so you can give him a proper burial."

The woman shook her head softly as if to say no, but Uzumaki Naruto has never been prone to taking no as an answer… unless it was from Sakura or Tsunade that is.

He tells them to grab hold of his shoulders, and when they did so he went through a couple of hand seals, and in a gust of the wind, they were gone.

Two sets of green eyes blinked in surprise as they looked up at the great walls right in front of them. The blonde Chunin had just teleported them several miles with a wind based Shunshin no Jutsu, and they now stands right in front of the gates of Konoha.

Naruto smiled warmly at them, and it turned into his foxy grin when he saw the surprise in their eyes.

"How is this possible? A Shunshin covering that distance must take more chakra than me and my daughter has pooled together, and you don't even look winded."

Naruto chuckles a bit at the woman's pun.

He had performed a wind Shunshin, and he didn't look winded. Great stuff, he has to remember that one!

Waving them off, he tells the girls to go straight to the Hokage and tell her to send ANBU to pick up the corpses and explain to her what happened. He would go find her father's body before a wild animal finds it, and he would bring the old man to the morgue where she could pick him up before an eventual funeral.

The older red head gets tears in her eyes when she looks at the boy. Such selfless kindness is a rare quality in a man these days, and it reminds her so much about how her husband used to be before he died.

Then in a flash of bright yellow, the boy disappeared. The woman gasps at this, as it was a dead ringer to her husband's famous jutsu.

'You would have liked this one Minato, he is a strong one.'

And with that, Uzumaki Kushina and her daughter Hikari left for the Hokage's office.

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Tsunade is in a really bad mood today.

It is her surrogate son's fifteenth birthday, and she would like nothing more than to make his day special.

Don't get me wrong, his day will indeed be special. Just not a good kind of special!

Naruto had barged into her office two days prior to this, talking about how he had rescued two red headed women in the forest after his training, and they had hugged him. He was all smiles as he told her how the hug had been strange, as he had felt really warm, and that he felt like nothing could hurt him at the moment.

Tsunade had tried to be positive while her son rambled on about how much fun it was to see their faces after he teleported them to the gates, and how nice the two were.

She knew very well who these two were.

They had been in her office right before him actually, and she couldn't bring herself to tell him who they were. That he had saved his mother and twin sister from being killed by rogue missing nins, and that they probably wouldn't be so kind to him next time.

Tsunade had told Kushina who the boy were, and it was all she could do to keep the woman from running into the forest to kill the demon right that instant before he could get his hands on her father's body. She was yelling about how the filthy beast would take the soul of yet another of her precious people, and she had to stop him.

It's rare for Tsunade to get violent with non-perverted people, but in matters concerning the boy she thought of as her own son she wouldn't hold back.

A super strength slap later, Uzumaki Kushina was sleeping in the room next door after flying straight through the wall. Hikari had been very quiet, and didn't even flinch when her mother had been punched through a wall.

The girl had grown up with her mother and grandfather, being trained as a shinobi from the day she learned how to walk. And from that very same day, she had been told that her twin brother had been killed by the demon years prior, and that the demon possessed her brother's body.

She had grown up learning to hate Uzumaki Naruto, and she had been trained to kill the beast who took her father and brother away from her.

But now, she wasn't so sure anymore.

The boy was way too kind to be a demon, and she could see no deceit in his eyes. His sky blues had not shown her the hate and rage of the beast of legends, but a sadness from a young boy who had lived his whole life in pain and never felt the love of a family.

Hikari couldn't help but think that her mother had done something horrible the day she left him to his fate in this village where everyone hated him. She looked at the Hokage with pleading eyes, looking for a hint of how her brother really was. The Hokage just smiled at the girl, silently hoping that she would reconcile with her long lost twin, and fill the feeling of emptiness all twins feel when they are separated from their counterpart.

So, even if Hikari had shown some promise, Kushina had not. Tsunade had trained the red head as a medic nin all those years ago, and Kushina was the first kunoichi to ever reproduce her legendary strength. Tsunade had been so proud of the girl she put her soul into training, but now she can't help but feel disappointment in the woman she had become.

Yes, Naruto's birthday would be special!

Not only will he get to participate in the tournament he has trained so hard for, but he will meet his birth mother and twin sister for the first time in his life. The two most recent people in his life he had thought could accept him, was the very same people who had caused his last months to hurt so much.

If you asked Tsunade, she couldn't understand how anyone could leave a baby as adorable as Naruto had been back then, and much less hate the blue eyed wonder boy. She decided there and then that after the tournament, she would start training Naruto so he could learn her super strength and medic jutsu. After all, it was only natural for a mother to pass her most treasured jutsu down to her children.

With resolve burning in her eyes, Tsunade walks out of her office and heads for the stadium where the tournament is about to begin.

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The stadium is packed full with curious villagers seeking a thrill by watching experienced shinobi fight in a non-lethal match of skill and overly flashy jutsu. There is nothing more bloodthirsty than a shinobi-groupie, and many of the female watchers here this day is here to see a certain blonde shinobi and his sensei, some in hope of actually getting to see the Copy Ninja's face.

Yeah, well they can hope can't they?

The loud rumble of hundreds of people talking at the same time all came to a screeching halt when the Hokage walked up to her microphone and addressed the audience.

"Dear villagers of Konoha. We are here today to celebrate the return of the Yondaime's wife and her daughter, and to have a shinobi tournament in their honor. The Yondaime's own daughter, Hikari is actually participating, so let's all look forward to her fight. Today's matches are specially chosen by the council themselves, and look like this."

With a wave of her hand towards a big screen hanging from a non-existent roof (shinobi style) showed the matches. The loud rumbling of the audience started up again as they saw who would fight in one of the matches.

Match 1: Hatake Kakashi Vs. Maito Gai

Match 2: Uzumaki Naruto Vs. Uzumaki Hikari

Match 3: Mitarashi Anko Vs. Nara Shikamaru

Match 4: Namiashi Raido Vs. Shiranui Genma

Match 5: Uzuki Yugao Vs. Yamato

The second match was what caused the audience to start chatting like old ladies on the bus, and caused a certain blonde Hokage to start shaking in righteous fury for the sake of her son.

How dare those old bastards do that to her little boy? He had never met his sister officially before, so now they make their first real meeting be in a fight? Oh, she will enjoy the sounds of their old bones snapping when she tortures the old bastards to the brink of death the next meeting.

She looked over her shoulder and caught sight of her former pupil. Kushina's pretty face is now sporting an evil grin as she rubbed her hands together. Soon she would have her revenge, when her daughter kills the beast who stole away her son and husband all those years ago. Years of crying herself to sleep as she saw the faces of the boys she had lost was now coming to an end.

She just had to wait through the first fight where her late husband's student fought the creepy guy in green spandex.

Shizune appeared down in the fighting area with a microphone in her hands.

"Excuse me, will Hatake Kakashi and Maito Gai please come down to the arena?"

A second later a green blur appeared revealing Maito Gai in all his… glory? Well, either way, he was there now.

So they waited.

And they waited.

And waited some more.

And about fifteen minutes later, and a lot of yelling from the audience, Kakashi appeared in a swirl of leaves with his trademark 'Yo!'

"Oooooooh… MY ETERNAL RIVAL, IT IS UNYOUTHFUL OF YOU TO COME LATE TO OUR VERY YOUTHFUL BOUT WHERE WE WILL TEST YOUR YOUTHFUL FIGHTINGSPIRITS AGAINST EACHOTHER." Gai more or less yelled at the top of his lungs, and probably busting a couple of non trained eardrums in the process.

Kakashi just raised his only visible eyebrow.

"I'm sorry Gai, did you say something?"

Gai squealed like a teenage girl seeing her pop idol on the street.

"OH MY YOUTHFUL RIVAL, CURSE YOU AND YOUR HIP ATTITUDE!"

Thankfully, this is where Shizune got done with healing her ears after Gai's first youthful yell, and she started the fight.

"Will the contestants take their places please? The rules are no assassination jutsu, meaning no killing. This is just a game, and killing your opponent will be punished with revoking your ninja license and time in prison. Is this clear?"

The two contestants nodded… or one nodded, and the other gave his patented nice guy pose to great excitement of his minime in the audience.

Shizune raised her hand over her head, and disappeared the second she dropped it and the two eternal rivals were at each other's throat.

Kakashi was the first one to act and his hands flashed through a long series of seals.

"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu"

Gai sees the balls of fire coming at him at great speed.

But when it comes to speed, he will not lose to anyone. For anyone in the audience it looked like Gai just disappeared from the arena all together, and the fireballs slammed into the arena floor.

Kakashi knows all too well how bloody fast that man is, and he unveils his Sharingan eye from its hiding place behind his forehead protectors.

Then he disappeared himself and launched into a long bout of taijutsu against his eternal rival, but at this speed he knows Gai has the upper hand. Not only is his speed far greater than his own, but Gai is a taijutsu specialist as well.

The two appeared back on the arena floor in a swirl of dust, both locked in a pose where anyone of them would get hit if he moved. As if agreed beforehand, the two rivals jumps back and from each other's reach.

Kakashi started doing hand seals again while airborne, and launched a jutsu at Gai the second he landed.

"THIS ONE IS FOR YOU ZABUZA; SUITON: DAIBAKUFU NO JUTSU" Kakashi yelled and sent an exploding wave of water at his rival who's eyes widened to impossible width at the approaching water jutsu.

Gai had promised the Hokage he wouldn't use the Chakra Gates, but he couldn't get away from that water blast without the extra power gained from the gates.

"Kaimon… KAI"

Gai opened the first of the eight inner chakra gates and disappeared right before the enormous power of Kakashi's water jutsu hit him. It would have knocked him out, but with this at least he could go out victorious in the fight if not the tournament.

"KONOHA DAISEMPU" Gai yelled and roundhouse kicked Kakashi into a wall, where the masked ninja stayed as he was now unconscious.

Shizune runs up to Kakashi and checks his vitals, deciding he would be ok as soon as he wakes up.

"Maito Gai is disqualified for opening a chakra gate in the fight. Winner: Hatake Kakashi." Shizune yelled into the microphone, and Gai went over to pick up his fallen rival.

"I'm sorry for acting so unyouthful Kakashi." Gai said in an uncharacteristic moment of silence.

Shizune waits for the men to reach the door up to the contestants' area before she called the next match.

"Will Uzumaki Hikari and Uzumaki Naruto come to the arena?" Shizune said into the microphone, and two seconds later the twins arrived.

Naruto hadn't been looking forward to this fight, but when he saw the red haired girl who had been so kind to him only two days prior his eyes widened.

"You… You're my sister?" he stammered.

Hikari looks up to her mother and she can see her mother nod at her.

"Don't talk to me as if you know me demon. I'm here to take revenge for my father and twin brother, and I will not fall for any of your tricks again." She sneered, but she knew in her heart that she was wrong the second she saw the light in Naruto's eyes disappear.

"I… I see." Naruto said, and he was silent after that. His eyes hidden behind bangs of his long blonde hair, but everyone who knows Naruto knows how he is when he's about to break down. A single tear fell from Shizune's face before she started the match.

Hikari flashed through some hand seals of her own, never letting her eyes lose track of her brother who was circling her.

"Futon: Daitoppa" Hikari yelled as she let a huge ball of pure wind fly at her brother, before she ran after the jutsu herself as she charged a ball of chakra in her hands.

The next thing she knew, her jutsu hit the boy and she thought she had killed him. Looking around franticly she felt as if she had killed a part of herself, but she couldn't see any trace of his dead body anywhere.

Suddenly she felt cold steel press against her neck, and a voice whispered into her ear.

"I'm sorry you feel that way Hikari-chan. My whole life I have felt as if something was missing, but I never knew what it was. It felt like I had an emptiness inside my soul that I couldn't get rid of no matter what I did, and it hurt every time I thought about it. Now I know what it was. It was the place in my heart that you own, my twin sister. I wish we could get along, but I understand that it will never happen. But please… forfeit so I don't have to hurt you."

Hikari had tears in her eyes, but sent a sharp elbow right into Naruto's chest, knocking the air out of his lungs. Then she followed up with a solid kick to the chin and sent him flying into the wall.

Kushina was watching her daughter fight her son's body, but it didn't feel as she had imagined. It hurt her every time one of them got hit by a jutsu or a punch, and she can't understand why.

"You were wrong Kushina."

The red head's eyes locked onto the brown eyes of her former sensei and friend.

"Tsunade-sama… What do you mean? The demon has to die so my son's soul will find rest. You have to understand that I have to do this, even if it hurts seeing my daughter's tears and his empty eyes."

Tsunade shook her head sadly and faced the arena again. The twins had really broken the place up, and it appears they have both mastered the Rasengan to its fullest.

The two runs at each other, both of them wielding a Rasengan in their right hand.

With a loud cry the two jutsu hit each other, and a bright light engulfed the arena. When the dust dispelled, they could see Hikari lying down against the wall breathing heavily. Naruto was just standing there with his eyes covered by his long bangs.

Then suddenly, a sickly purple force field rose up from the ground.

"Kukukukuku… You have been a very bad boy Naruto-kun. You took something I wanted, and now I can never get the Sharingan since Sasuke-kun is trapped inside that awful prison. Since you took something precious from me, it's only right I take something from you, right?"

Naruto felt a cold chill run down his spine as he remembered that voice. A voice he hadn't heard since he recovered Tsunade, and a voice whose owner was directly responsible for the loss of his brother.

Jiraiya jumped down from the audience and slammed his fists into the force field, but it didn't budge.

"OROCHIMARU! I SWEAR I'LL RIP YOUR HEAD CLEAN OFF YOUR SHOULDERS IF YOU AS MUCH AS TOUCH A HAIR ON THE BOY'S HEAD!"

The snake Sannin turned his face towards his old teammate, who was quickly joined by the other.

"Oh, it's a team reunion. And I didn't bring any gifts!" the snake chuckled to himself at his great show of humor. Not really!

"Don't worry Jiraiya-kun. I will not hurt Naruto, since that would put me in a bad relationship with my old friends in the Akatsuki… or is that worse relationship?" Orochimaru said with his patented smirk.

"No, the one I'm going to kill won't be this boy. I'm actually one of the only ones here who knows exactly how Minato's seal worked, and I know the demon can never take over the boy's body. You people call me a monster, yet you have given the son of your great "hero" grow up in a way not even I would put anyone through. Isn't it fun to know Kushina-chan, that you condemned your own son to fifteen years of hate and violence? Did you know that before I escaped from Konoha the first time, I was the one who found the five years old boy in his bath tub where he had slit his own wrists to relieve himself of his pain?"

Several gasps were heard through the audience at this.

The Snake Sannin was actually standing up for the demon brat?

Could it be true? Had they spent the last fifteen years tormenting a child for no reason? Let's say that more than one set of eyes were filled with tears of shame at that moment, and all of Naruto's friends looked shocked.

The boy who always acted cheerful and happy had tried to kill himself… had his childhood really been that bad?

Kushina was standing by Tsunade and giving Orochimaru a hateful glare.

"Don't think you can fool me you damned snake. You think you can trick me into believing my son has been alive all this time? You really think you can guilt trip me from finally getting my revenge? You don't know me at all snake!"

Orochimaru just smiled and gave the audience another of his evil laughs.

"Oh, but I AM right. Just ask my old teammate Jiraiya. He helped create the seal, and he knows how it works perfectly well. I'll have you kno…"

"STOP!"

Orochimaru looked around and saw Naruto stand there leaking incredible amounts of killing intent.

"You will not take anything from me Orochimaru. Not anymore! Do you know what my dream is?"

Naruto was looking livid.

Orochimaru just shrugged.

"You want to be "the greatest Hokage of all times" in honor of your late father and the only man who took care of you as a child, my old sensei."

Naruto stood there for a second, studying Orochimaru's smug look.

"You're only half right you bastard."

Even Orochimaru raised an eyebrow at this. Wasn't this the blonde brat who always bragged about how great a Hokage he would become?

"I wanted to be a Hokage because I wanted to protect the people I hold precious to me. I wanted to be like my father and Sarutobi ojii-san so bad, because they were willing to give their lives for the people they loved. My first real friend once told me that real strength comes from the will to protect your precious people with everything you have, and that is what I'm going to do." Naruto said with a sneer, leaking a little bit of the Kyuubi's chakra into his killing intent and sent it at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru just shrugged it off and laughed.

"You think you can beat me with your pathetic skill Naruto-kun? No, I'm going to take your sister's life here and now, right before your eyes just like you took my chance at obtaining the Sharingan from me." The snake's eyes locks onto Naruto's blue orbs, and he can see something he really didn't expect. He can see Namikaze Minato in the boy's stance and in his eyes.

"I may not be able to stop you in a normal fight Orochimaru, but now that I have you trapped for a couple of seconds… that's all I need to kill you once and for all and save everyone I love from you."

Orochimaru's eyes widened as he felt strong hands hold him in a hard judo lock, leaving him immobile.

Naruto smiled at his sister and turned to his family and friends who were standing outside the force field.

"Iruka sensei, Kakashi-sensei… Thanks for showing me how it feels like to have a brother, and thanks for helping me every time when I was hurt. I remember you from when I was little Kakashi, and I know you saved my life many times by taking me to the hospital. Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan, Ino-chan, Tenten, Anko, Shizune nee-san… thank you for accepting me and helping me get through. I will always remember you as my sisters!"

Tears are streaming down the faces of all of Naruto's precious people standing outside feeling helpless since they can't come to his aid.

"Lee, Neji, Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba… thanks for being my friends."

The boys started to hammer their fists on the damned force field, yelling for Naruto to stop and try to find a way to open the force field so they could help him.

Naruto just smiled and shook his head, before turning his attention to three adults. One white haired man, a blonde woman and a red headed woman he had believed he could never forgive for leaving him to rot.

"Jiraiya, Tsunade… the two of you mean so much to me. Jiraiya helped me train when no one else would, and I have grown so much stronger with your help. I can summon frogs and use my father's technique. I'm just sad I couldn't master the Hiraishin… Tsunade, you are most likely the first person to ever treat me with so much care when I was hurt. Usually, I wake up alone in a hospital with no one around and no one who cared when I walked out. I'm glad I was part of your lives and that I could help the two of you realize how you felt for each other. You are like the parents I always wished I had when I was little, and I thank you for helping me realizing my dream."

Tsunade was clinging to Jiraiya with all her might, which usually was more than Jiraiya could take. But lucky for him, she was too upset to use her chakra induced strength and just settled for Jiraiya's comfort.

Then Naruto locked eyes with Kushina.

The read head looked at the blue eyes. Eyes she had loved so much when the boy was born, and eyes he had inherited from his father. Then it hit her!

She hadn't left a demon to its fate when she took Kushina and left Konoha all those years ago. Blinded by her grief after her husband's demise, she had condemned her son to grow up unloved and hated, in a place where the only physical contact he would get would result in him being in a hospital. What had she done?

'WHAT HAVE I DONE?'

Tears streaming down her face, she raised her hand and touched the warm chakra field separating her from the son she abandoned. Her eyes held a look of longing and grief as she studied the eyes of the son she never saw grow up.

She had missed his first steps.

She had missed his first smile.

She had missed his first words.

She had never held her son in her arms when he was sad, and praised him when he did something good.

Both mother and son connected for the first time, fifteen years after Naruto's birth. Tears stained both their cheeks as unspoken words were exchanged between the two of them.

"Kushina… I thought I couldn't forgive you for the life you cursed me with, but I guess it was inevitable. I have not only suffered, and when I turned twelve my life turned for the better. I have people precious to me now… I only wish I could get to know you… mom, I forgive you."

Naruto dried his tears on his shirt and turned to his sister. The sister he had left lying on the ground behind him, trapped under a part of the wall so she couldn't move.

"Hikari… I wish I could get to know you… hold you and do ordinary sibling things with you and protect you like a big brother should protect his younger sister forever. But I didn't get the time…" Naruto was smiling, but it was a sad smile no one had ever seen on that face.

"NARUTO NII-SAN… NO DON'T.." She tried yelling as she pushed at the piece of rock trapping her to the ground with all her might.

"If I have to die, I'm glad it's because I'm protecting people I love." Naruto turned around facing Orochimaru again, his smile turning into a scowl.

"Take care of mom and my family Hikari-chan, grow strong and if you can… will you fulfill my dream for me?"

He started doing hand seals who got horrified reactions from some of the people who knew what jutsu he was about to use.

"NARUTO, DON'T DO IT" Jiraiya and Tsunade yelled as one as they hammered the force field with their best jutsu.

"PLEASE NARUTO, LET ME DO IT INSTEAD… YOU HAVE TOO MUCH TO LIVE FOR!" Kakashi yelled on the top of his lungs as he charged the force field with a Raikiri.

"NARUTO!" Came the voices of his friends, but they drowned in the yell from a hysterical red headed woman who was about to lose her son for the second time to the same jutsu who took her husband's life.

"NARUTO… PLEASE… Please, let me be your family again… I love you my son, please don't do this."

Kushina fell to her knees and she started crying. She cried like she did on this very day fifteen years ago, when she lost her brother, mother, her husband and… her little son. Her sunshine. The one she left behind.

Naruto gave them all a sad look, and everyone gasped at what they saw.

Overlapping Naruto's body was the Yondaime Hokage, father and son. Both will die by the same jutsu, a reunited in the Shinigami's stomach.

Jiraiya surprised everyone when he yelled at the boy one last time.

"GAKI!! You made me proud!"

Naruto just turned back to face Orochimaru with a smile on his face.

"You hear that Orochimaru? I have people to protect, and I promised years ago I would die protecting my precious people… And I never go back on my promises, because THAT'S MY NINDO!"

Naruto yelled and finished his hand seals as Orochimaru's eyes widened in fright as he struggled to move out of the way of the jutsu he knew was coming. He knew he couldn't survive the second coming of the Shinigami!

Everyone felt a cold chill run down their spines as they saw the horrible creature appear behind Naruto, staring at the prey that got away some years ago. The Shinigami smiled an insane smile and licked its lips, waiting for Naruto to finish the jutsu.

"LET'S GO TO HELL TOGETHER OROCHIMARU…. SHIKI FUJIN"

The Shinigami shoved its ugly hand straight through Naruto's chest and grabbed hold of Orochimaru's soul. Naruto poured both Naruto's own and Kyuubi's chakra into the jutsu, making it stronger than ever before as the clawed hand ripped Orochimaru's soul out of his body.

Naruto turned to his mother one last time and mouthed three small words to her that would forever be in her memory.

'I love you'

In a brilliant flash of red, blue and purple, the shinigami took both Naruto's and Orochimaru's souls and swallowed them whole before he let himself fade away into nothingness and the barrier was gone.

Kushina ran with all her might to see if she could still save her son. She would do anything to see his smile once more, only this time she would get the smile from her son and not an unknown blonde shinobi.

She felt a strong hand on her shoulder and looked up and saw Tsunade and Jiraiya looking down. The three of them had just lost a son, and there is no pain greater in this world than that of a parent who watched his or her child slowly pass away.

The three of them huddled together and cried on each other's shoulder, and neither one of them noticed Naruto's face turn into a small smile as a tear fell from his face.

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It is a sad day in Konohagakure no Sato.

The village has lost its sunlight when they lost their greatest hero.

A boy who had grown up holding the strongest demon in the history of mankind back, only to be rewarded with scorn and hate.

Tsunade and the council had decided to hold Naruto's funeral in front of the Hokage monument where they erected a beautiful memorial stone with Naruto's image engraved into the marble. He was holding a nine tailed fox by the throat in one hand, and the hand of a person with no face in the other. His smile seemed to radiate off the stone, giving slight comfort to the ones who knew the boy best.

Kakashi and Sakura walked up to the stone, and they had even brought Uchiha Sasuke with them. When Orochimaru died, the cursed seal left Sasuke's shoulder and his mind cleared up as if he woke from a coma. The members of Team 7 put down a single orange flower on his grave and offered their prayers. Kakashi thanked the boy for helping him finally deal with the deaths of his former team, Sakura for letting her be his friend, and Sasuke thanked Naruto for saving his life and giving him a new chance at making up for his mistakes.

Next came Team Ten. Asuma charged some of his wind chakra into his trench knife and jammed it into the top of the stone, sealing it with a small sealing jutsu.

"You were a strong wind user Naruto. I hope your soul finds rest and I promise to help your sister with her wind nature so she can make you proud."

Shikamaru was next, and he shocked many when he placed a shougi board on the grave. That board had been a gift to Shikamaru from his grandfather, and it was his most treasured possession. He didn't have to say anything else.

Chouji had made a special ramen bowl for Naruto in the afterlife, so he wouldn't starve. It is important to keep a healthy appetite no matter where you are.

Next came Ino and her father, and they placed flowers around his tombstone, promising to have the Yamanaka family keep the grave with fresh flowers for ever.

From Team Gai came the Horrifying Green Beast of Konoha with his treasured student, both looking quite strange in their black suits. As one, they put a pair of their trademark spandex suits into the coffin with the other gifts, since they can't have his youth diminish by this minor setback. He'll be the most youthful person in the afterlife!

Hinata came up with her cousin Neji, and they both did a Hyuuga Eye Ceremony to honor their friend who had lost his life saving everyone. Hinata of course, broke down and cried and Neji led her away from the grave.

Next up was Tenten, who shed a tear and put a twin pair of blood red scimitars into his coffin. She smiled as she looked at his peaceful face lying there in the coffin as if he could wake up any time.

Kiba and Shino walked up to the coffin and looked at their friend's sleeping face. They both smiled and Kiba put a picture of the three of them into the coffin, promising he would try to live up to Naruto's legacy as the prankster from hell. Shino said nothing, but he didn't need to.

Iruka walked up to the coffin and looked at the boy he had adopted as his own brother all those years ago. He pulled out the goggles Naruto gave him in return for his forehead protector all those years ago when he graduated. It seems so long ago now, but it wasn't longer than three small years. He smiled at the boy and ruffled his hair for the last time, laughing to himself as he heard Naruto's voice yell at him for messing up his hair.

Anko and Kurenai was the next people who wanted to pay their respect. Jiraiya had to hold Tsunade extra hard when the two started to wiggle out of their panties and put them in his hand.

"Thanks for killing the snake for me kid, you were a good man." Anko said, and turned back to the shocked audience.

"You must be the only man in this city who respects women as people and you are the only straight man who always looked me in the eyes when we talked." Kurenai said and bent down to leave a kiss on his cheek.

Tsunade and Jiraiya walked up to the boy next, neither one of them crying. They know that no matter where Naruto goes, he will be fine. You could see the pride shine in their eyes like only parents can feel for their child, and before they left Tsunade bent down and kissed her son on the forehead one last time.

"Take care of my grandfather's necklace brat, and congratulations. I have talked to the council, and I made them agree to naming you the Rokudaime Hokage of Konoha. You made it kid. Now your ugly mug will always be up there next to my beautiful face, but you fulfilled your dream. Rest in peace, Rokudaime Hokage-sama."

The last two people to come up to the coffin was two read heads who had known the boy less than a week. Uzumaki Kushina and her daughter held on to each other for comfort as they watched the boy they now acknowledged as their son and brother respectively, and Kushina got the chance to do something she had dreamed about for fifteen years. She bent down and placed a motherly kiss on his eyelids, like her mother had done for her before she fell asleep when she was a child.

Hikari kissed her brother's cheek and whispered in his ear, hoping he could hear her voice from heaven.

"I hope I will make you proud big brother, as I follow in your footsteps when I become the next Hokage. I promise to protect your precious people, as they are now mine as well… Thank you for protecting me, and I will always love you."

When she was done, Kushina and Hikari just stood there and stared at the boy they wished they could have known better.

Then, suddenly a red light shot out of Naruto's body. The light arched in the air before it shot down onto the ground beside the coffin, revealing something that brought horror to everyone. There stood a man in royal clothing, with long red hair flowing down his back and nine fox tails shaking slightly in the wind.

The Kyuubi is loose!

Every ninja present was about to jump the demon and kill it once and for all, or die trying. But a raised hand from the demon made them all stop.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I just want to make Naruto's last wish to me come true before I join his soul in the afterlife." Kyuubi said in a surprisingly gentle voice.

"When I attacked fifteen years ago, it was because of a man named Uchiha Madara. He summoned me from my sleep, and since he owned a part of my body, my left fang, he could order me to do his bidding once. He ordered me to kill the Yondaime Hokage and as many Konoha citizens as possible, but believe me when I say I didn't want to. We demons are peaceful creatures unless angered, and therefore I wish you no harm. I only wish to honor the first human to gain my respect by showing you some of his memories so you will all have a part of him with you. I'm sorry to say that there are not much good memories to show, but I will show you some important parts. Please close your eyes!" The Kyuubi said, and he started his own hand seals as the shocked audience closed their eyes.

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX

The people standing around Naruto's grave found themselves standing in the orphanage Naruto stayed in many years ago. They could see that it was night outside, and kids were starting to turn in for the night.

Then the Kyuubi's voice interrupted their thoughts.

"This is where Naruto lived for the first six years of his life. This place doesn't hold any good memories for Naruto, but one of the most important things in his life started out here." The Kyuubi said.

"The Sandaime Hokage had ordered the immediate execution of any of the workers at the orphanage if they as much as looked at Naruto wrong, so they never raised a hand to strike him. But we know that there are many ways to torment a young soul."

"Every night when the other orphans were tucked in for the night, and given a good night kiss on the forehead by the nurses. Naruto went to bed alone in his dark room, clutching his only property tightly to his chest. It was a little frog plushy with a little katana and a pipe in his mouth, a replica of his idol's trusted friend and helper, the Toad Boss Gamabunta."

Everyone saw little Naruto curl up in a ball on a bed in his single room, without as much as a good night to help him sleep.

"Naruto often cried himself asleep because of self pity and slight angst. He felt lonely and hated, and with good reasons to as that was exactly what he was…"

Some of the people who used to work at the orphanage saw themselves tend to the children, but leaving a little boy alone in the dark. They all hung their heads in shame, wishing they could go back and do things differently.

"No other child in the city would play with him, and would much rather throw things at him or laugh when he fell over. In the orphanage it was the same, and Naruto would never be allowed into the play room by the matrons at the orphanage."

Everyone saw a little Naruto surrounded by children as they pushed him between them and laughed, and some of the adults were standing idle in the background with a smile on their faces.

"Naruto's only childhood friend was, oddly enough, a little fox kit who had started playing with him in the woods outside the village walls. The little fox was Naruto's comfort when Naruto was sad, and it was never far away if he needed someone to just sit and listen to him. It couldn't talk back, but that wasn't the point. Naruto just needed someone to relay his misery upon, and the fox chose to carry his burden with him."

They saw a little Naruto sit with his back up against a tree with a cute little fox kit on his lap, and a small hand caressed the little fox's neck as it snuggled closer to the boy.

"On October 10th, Naruto's sixth birthday and the anniversary of the day I attacked, he was left alone in the orphanage when the children and caretakers had gone to the yearly festival in celebration of my defeat. But that was a great mistake, as intoxicated villagers tend to be less afraid of consequences of their actions."

A small mob of drunk villagers had broken into Naruto's room where they proceeded to kick and punch the little birthday boy. At some point, Naruto had managed to slip out of their grasp and ran out and headed for the forest.

"The villagers wouldn't leave him alone, and gave chase as best as their wobbly legs could do. Naruto ran into the forest, and hid in a hollow oak where his fox friend had its nest. The fox could sense the fear in his young friend and snuggled up to the boy. When one of the villagers had found Naruto's tracks, it didn't take long for the mob to find the boy."

They saw the mob walk slowly toward little Naruto.

"That's when Naruto's worst memories took place."

They saw his only friend and comfort take it upon itself to protect the blonde boy from the attackers. The villagers sneered and glared hatefully at the little creature, and went on about how it was fitting for this little beast to protect the brat.

Naruto didn't know why, but the villagers got even more hate in their eyes when the fox stood guard in front of Naruto. One of them raised a stick and swung it at Naruto, but the fox cub jumped at him and clawed at his face, leaving three bleeding claw marks on his left cheek. The man howled in pain and let go of the stick to tend to his face, and another picked up the stick.

He swung at the fox now, which just barely dodged. Naruto was too afraid to do anything and could only watch as the men swung their sticks around, beating the little creature into a pulp. Suddenly, Naruto found his body moving on its own and jumped in front of the fox.

His friend had looked up at him from his one healthy eye and he was favoring its left leg. Naruto smiled at the cub and told him to run since it wasn't him the villagers were after.

"That was the first time when Naruto decided to never let his friends suffer for his sake, and he watched the fox hesitantly inch its way into the woods never to be seen again."

"Some days later, Naruto woke up in the hospital and all his wounds were healed. Some had been so horrible even the ANBU guards had nearly purged their stomachs when they came upon the scene."

Some of the villagers had just seen their own actions all those years ago, and wanted nothing more than to go back and fix things.

"They were glad Naruto had lost consciousness after the beating, because no child should ever be burdened with memories of one of the villagers' misdeeds against him. When they arrived, they found one of the villagers about to sexually violate the young boy."

Kushina was livid, and she had Tsunade right at her side looking equally angry. Try and rape their little boy, will you?

"The man was stopped in time with a well placed kunai between his eyes courtesy of a young ANBU captain with a dog mask, but had the boy been awake the memory of the horror that almost took place that day could destroy the innocent little boy. Yes Kakashi, he did remember you from back then, when you saved more than his life."

Everyone looked at Kakashi who was caught in a fierce hug from Naruto's mothers.

"The following day had been a fun day for one special Jounin named Morino Ibiki." Kyuubi said with a wink to said special Jounin who had a giant smile on his face as he remembered that day.

"After this he moved into his apartment, and he kept inside on his birthdays when he was alone. It all changed when Iruka acknowledged Naruto, and it was the turn point of his life. From that day he was genuinely happy for the first time in his life, and Iruka was most likely the first person next to the Sandaime Hokage who Naruto loved with all his heart."

With that said, the illusion faded away and they were back at the funeral. Kyuubi smiled at the people who stood there, everyone attending the funeral of the village's most surprising ninja.

"I'm glad people saw him as Naruto in the end, and not as my avatar. I have never controlled Naruto, nor have I wished to do so. When I lost my body, Madara lost his power over me and I was free. Over the years I have come to respect the boy greatly, and I have decided to go back into the seal in the afterlife as well. Don't worry about the Shinigami's stomach stuff, since that's bullcrap. That thing isn't even a true Shinigami, and Naruto has most likely been sent to the place where most souls go after death, Soul Society. I promise I will help him to the best of my abilities, and if he does good… I'm sure you will see him again someday. Until that day, I bid you farewell."

And with that, the Kyuubi left an entire village smiling as they knew that one day they will get to see the blonde boy again, and he will grow stronger than anything in the afterlife with the Kyuubi's help.

Still smiling, Tsunade walked up to the coffin and took one final look at Naruto's smiling face, before she locked the coffin and they lowered it into the dirt.

Uzumaki Naruto was born October 10th fifteen years ago to the day, and in that time he had saved more lives than any other shinobi had ever done before. He was truly the greatest Hokage ever seen in all the Elemental Countries.

**AN****/ Wow, I actually wrote the entire Naruto arc of this story in two chapters, when I had planned it to be closer to four. Oh well, I'm sure none of you will complain.**

**About Kushina and Hikari… I couldn't get myself to write them as cold bitches that couldn't change, so I decided to let Naruto forgive them. Don't worry, it's not the last time you see them as Naruto will most likely return to kick some hollow ass in Konoha at some point, but that won't be in a while yet.**

**The next chapter will be about Naruto waking up in Soul Society. Some of you were afraid that I would make this unoriginal and have him go straight to the academy for Shinigami training, but don't worry… I won't take that path. You can think of Naruto as the second coming of ****Kenpachi**** for the time being, as he will learn everything about the afterlife on his own.**

**I have also decided a pairing, and I have decided that Naruto will have two women****, yet one main pairing****. I couldn't chose so I asked Uncle Joe (read The Strawberry ****and the Fishcake now!!) what he would do, and he more or less decided for the two I had in mind anyway. Who is it? Oh ****come**** one, I can't tell you just yet. But you should be able to guess at least one!**** Hint: She can turn into a cat.**

**And I'm sorry ****Calibretto**** for ****braking**** my promise, but this still won't qualify as a harem ****fic****It will be a ****NaruX**** that one girl + slight interference from the other one. It's not an all out ****NaruXtwo**** girls (at least for now), so I hope you can survive.**

**But the pairing won't be for at least four or five chapters any way, even with chapters this size. I want to make this a good ****Bleachuto****fic****, so I hope I can please most of you.**

**This chapter was around 14500 long, and 15120 with Authors Notes.**

**Cya**

**Btw…**** I actually cried when I wrote some parts of this. Can guys menstruate?**


	3. Chapter 3

**The Ultimate Power – Chapter 3**

Waking up had never been his favorite thing to do.

Waking up after you've died in an overly dramatic way in front of everyone you've ever loved was even less fun, believe it or not.

For Uzumaki Naruto, newly deceased Shinobi and unknowingly the Rokudaime Hokage of Konoha, this particular way of waking up was even less fun.

The last thing Naruto remembered he had just used the Shiki Fuujin to kill Orochimaru. In retrospect, he realized that he could have finished him off with a Rasengan while he was still paralyzed.

'I guess you won that bet about me dying because of my own foolish actions, eh Ero-Sennin?'

How many times had Jiraiya told him to think his actions through before he made decisions? If there was one thing Jiraiya wanted Naruto to change, it was his brash actions.

Naruto punched his fist on the ground as the thought of him dying because he was too stupid to think of another plan.

But this was Orochimaru we're talking about here. Even without being able to move his entire body, there was no guarantee he would be able to defeat him any other way. No, he had done the right thing. Now that he was gone, Akatsuki wouldn't have a reason to pursue Konoha anymore, and their plans of using the Bijuu for whatever crazy goal they wanted to accomplish… well, the Kyuubi was gone now, so good luck with that.

At least he had done a lot of good while still alive. He had never regretted anything he had ever done in his life, so why should he mope around in the afterlife because of what he failed to do while alive?

"That's not very Uzumaki Naruto of me, is it?" he asked himself before he stood up and looked around.

Naruto had always pictured the place he'd go after death as a big fluffy white cloud where all his deceased precious people would wait for him with smiles on their faces. It's a little bit disappointing now when he woke up in a forest.

A bloody forest!

As if he couldn't get enough of those back home in Konoha? He grew up in a village surrounded by forest. He could navigate in a forest better than most other ninja due to his little problem, and if he wanted to he could disappear completely.



This forest was one of those forests. Thick, healthy looking threes stood proudly as they blocked his view of the sun. It was comforting to Naruto as he felt the gentle breeze of the wind stroking his whiskered cheeks and the smell of leaves and resin filled his sensitive nostrils when he took a deep breath.

"I guess being dead isn't so different from being alive anyway. I don't feel different at all."

He continued talking to himself as he stood there taking in the scenery. After a little while, he got bored.

Hey… he's still Uzumaki Naruto, no matter how dead he might be at the time, and Uzumaki Naruto bores easily!

He looked down at himself.

His clothes…

Damn it!

He let a small growl escape his lips as he inspected his new attire. 'I guess you don't get to take your clothes with you when you die.'

He didn't look much like a ninja at the moment, as all he was wearing was a grayish white Yukata. He didn't even get to keep his sandals.

Naruto let out a brief sigh. He couldn't go around barefoot for the rest of his afterlife, however long that may be. "Damn me and my newfound sensible way of dressing," he grumbled before he started walking in a random direction. For someone waking up in a new place, random is as god as it gets!

After walking for an hour or so, Naruto finally found civilization. Or what could best be described as such, as they all fared rather poorly for people who should have entered paradise many moons ago.

Walking slowly into the first populated area Naruto discovered in his new life, he took in the sights and couldn't help but be reminded of his first ever C-rank mission. This place looked so much alike the slums of the old Wave country before Tazuna finished his bridge, and everyone looked poor.

However strange it might sound, the people didn't look like they were suffering from hunger. No one was lying in the streets begging for food, and there were no dirty merchants trying to earn a quick buck on the behalf of others by selling spoiled food.

To be perfectly honest, the only thing that seemed off with these people was their way of dress.



Everyone was dressed in rags, and the children were as barefoot as Naruto. They did look a little wary of each other, as if expecting someone to jump them and steal their belongings… if they had any.

Keeping up his stride, Naruto tried locating somewhere to get better clothes. This Yukata was ok and all, but it didn't suit a ninja.

He walked up to an elderly chap and poked him on the shoulder to get his attention. The old man jumped slightly at the sudden contact, surprising Naruto at the same time.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Naruto apologized honestly as he tried to get the old man to calm down. "I just woke up in the forest a little while ago, so I'm not familiar with the area and I wanted to ask if you could direct me to a tailor so I could bargain for a new set of clothing."

The old man looked at Naruto strangely for a second before breaking into a toothless smile.

"No need to worry young one, as my old heart can still take quite a beating," the old man said in a joking manner as he let loose a small chuckle. "I understand you're new to the afterlife then, as you don't quite understand the situation of which you're currently finding yourself in."

An eyebrow rose on Naruto's forehead to signal his confusion before the old man continued.

"You're currently in the 78th district of the Rukongai," the man said as if Naruto should automatically understand where and what that was.

Naruto waited a little bit for the man to continue, but it seemed like he was done talking so it was up to Naruto to squeeze a little more information out of the man.

"I just told you I was new to this place, so I don't know what the duck you're talking about," he stated as the man seemed to remember something he had forgotten, like for instance… that he was talking to a newly deceased person with no previous Rukongai experience.

He scratched his balding head and let out a shy laugh as if embarrassed before he looked Naruto in the eyes again.

"I'm sorry lad. My mind is not what it used to be, but let me rectify my explanation. You see, when you die and the Shinigami sends you to the afterlife, you will wake up somewhere in Rukongai. This is where all spirits live after we die… oh my, that sounded silly didn't it?" Naruto shook his head no and let the man continue, "you see, Rukongai is split into several districts ranging from the single digit numbers and all the way past eighty, and the higher the number, the worse the living conditions gets. I don't know why it is like that, but it has always been this way ever since I was born."

Naruto stared at the old man.



"You were born here? Living all your life as a dead person?" Naruto asked, clearly shocked from the new revelations the old man let slip about himself.

The man gave of a hearty chuckle and messed up Naruto's hair with his hand, mischief obvious in his old eyes.

"Yes my boy, I was indeed born in this very district seventy-nine years ago to two lovers who found each other again after they died. My parents raised me like they would in the world of the true living, but please understand that you are still among the living as long as your body is still your own. That's why you can still live a life in Rukongai after you pass."

Naruto nodded in understanding as it made sense. The people around him looked no different from you and me. They had two legs… or most of them had, but it was natural causes that had claimed their legs, like a sword or a stampeding bull… They had all the limbs of a human being, and no wings or intangible looks about them. They are just ordinary humans living together, only not among the living anymore.

Naruto shook his head as he was walking down a dangerous road which would end with him making himself more confused than necessary.

"So, if we're all alive in a sense, why do we die?"

The old man laughed merrily as he once again ruffled the blonde locks on Naruto's head.

"The theories are many my boy, but my personal opinion is that this is Kami's way of keeping the earth from being overpopulated. If one world has too many living beings, then the natural resources would be spent quicker than they could grow back, and then no life would have the conditions it needs to survive. That's why only a very special few in Rukongai needs food or sleep when they arrive here, because our resources are scarce at best."

Once again Naruto felt himself get overwhelmed by the workings of this new plane of existence. These people didn't eat? How is that living? That means no more ramen for all eternity, and that's one eternity Naruto is not willing to live!

With wide eyes, verging on a panic attack, Naruto pleaded with the old man. "What do you mean you don't eat? How do you stand the hunger for so long, and where do you get your energy from? I'm more or less starving already, and I've only been here for a couple of hours!" Naruto was close to tears now as his stomach started agreeing with its master. Naruto WAS hungry, and a hungry Naruto needs to be fed!

It's just how the world works… all of them!

The old man however, seemed almost frightened from the boy's outcry.



"You can feel hunger lad?" he asked, getting a firm nod from the hungry teenager. The old man felt his eyes widen more as he grabbed Naruto and dragged him quickly through the streets.

"Hey old man, what the heck are you doing? Where are you taking me?" Naruto whined as he struggled to get free from the surprisingly strong man's grasp.

The old man didn't say anything as he dragged Naruto through many tight and dark alleys, much like the ones Naruto himself had made his own in his time as the Konoha pariah back in his younger days… not that he was old though, he's just dead.

The odd duo ended up standing in front of a rather poorly looking house, or maybe it was a shed? The old man walked up to the door and knocked four times rapid fire before taking a step back and waiting. Naruto was about to speak up as a little hatch on the door flew up and a dark pair of eyes peered through, followed by a raspy voice directed at the old man.

"Password!" the voice demanded as Naruto began to see a pattern here. Dying makes you go crazy!

The old man didn't seem to find it strange as he just stood straight and stared right into the eyes of the person standing behind the door.

"Shinigami fear," the old man said as the hatch smacked closed and they could hear someone fumbling with keys on the other side. After a little waiting, the door opened slightly and a face appeared in the crack.

"Get in!" it ordered, and the two outside weren't hard to beg.

If there's one thing Naruto loves more than ramen, it would be secrets. And this place was full of them!

He was expecting the insides of the shed to be as rundown and poorly looking as the outside, but he was surprised to see the inside looking at least fifty times the size of the shed he just entered. How the hell was something like that even possible?

The old man walked up to the man who had just let them into this insane place and shook his hand before dragging him into a friendly embrace.

"It has been too long Ban-san," the old man who had dragged Naruto all over the village said, breaking the silence. The man now revealed to be known as Ban just smiled and nodded as they parted.

"Who's the kid?" Ban asked, gaining him yet another sour look from the very confused deceased shinobi.

The old man walked over to Naruto and put his arm around his neck.



"This, my old friend, might very well be the answer to all our problems. We might be looking at the promised one!"

The promised one?

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

Naruto hadn't promised anyone here anything yet, and he was pretty sure no one had promised him anything either. He was about to ask the old man what the hell they were talking about and what he had been promised, although he was hoping they were talking about ramen, but Ban raised his voice first.

"How can you be so sure Takusen? Do you even know this boy at all?"

The old man, or Takusen as he apparently was better known as, just smiled.

"There's a reason why I was named "Oracle" my friend. I have had dreams about a boy who would make our lives better since I was eight years old, and this boy fits the bill perfectly. You know, he didn't wake up in a village, but in the forest between here and 79."

Naruto saw Ban's eyes widen at this revelation as if it was completely unheard of. He decided it was time to get some answers.

"I'm sorry old man, but what's all this about? I just told you I was hungry, and we took off to God knows where… what's this 'promised one' thingie and what do you mean I will make your lives better? Is it that unusual for someone to wake up in the forests?"

Takusen smiled and waved Naruto over to where a small couch was placed against one of the walls. The room was fairly unremarkable, but there was one thing that was very special. The walls were covered with pictures of people, and the only open spot was by the couch they were heading for, right between the pictures of two young men.

"What I'm about to tell you must not be mentioned outside of this room boy, no matter what. Do you understand?"

Naruto looked at the two as he sat down on one side of the couch.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto by the way, and I would appreciate if you would call me by my name!"

The two men stared at him for a split second before throwing their heads back and laughing as if Naruto had just told the greatest joke in the universe. Ban was the first of the two to get down from his high and caught his breath.

"You really have spunk kid, I like that."

Naruto's left eye twitched slightly, but he let the comment slide… for now.



Takusen was the next one to speak.

"This will take a while to explain Naruto, so please don't interrupt me before I'm done telling you the story. Do you understand?"

Naruto was getting annoyed with these two men who kept asking if he understood them. Of course he did! They were talking his language after all, so understanding wasn't a problem.

But he decided to keep his mouth shut and just gave the two a nod indicating he was ready. Takusen smirked as if he knew Naruto was pissed, but that wasn't important right now as it was time to tell a story which was one of Takusen's favorite things to do.

"It all happened thousands of years ago, right after Kami-sama made this realm for the deceased to get a second chance at life. Kami made this world so that every time the Shinigami sent a soul from the world of the living to the afterlife, the soul would wake up in one of the eighty districts of the Rukongai. The deceased soul would wake up in the village and he or she would be able to live their lives here for a long time without ever feeling hunger, thirst or fatigue. That was how Kami himself made this world, and such was the way it worked until one person came here. A man, recently deceased, woke up in the fields between two districts, and this person was not like everyone else. Where all of the spirits were supposed to be feeding on the spirit particles naturally saturating the air in Rukongai, this boy needed more. He felt hunger, thirst and he needed to sleep if he exhausted himself. It was as if he was still alive, but that was impossible, right?

At first everyone just believed that he was a fluke and that he would turn into one of them with time, but he started differing more and more as time passed. The boy was weak when he got here, but as the years passed he discovered powers unlike any of the other spirits had ever seen before. He got faster than the wind, stronger than the mountains and more durable than the thickest of trees.

After a while, Kami instructed Shinigami to go see what went wrong with this particular soul, and figure out what they should do with him. It's funny, because this was Kami after all… you would think the creator of all life and dimensions would know such a simple thing.

Anyway, the Shinigami met the man one night the man was out hunting for food. The man was startled when he saw the death god's grotesque visage and decided he had to defend himself, and the two did battle. Now, you should know that the Shinigami is a real god and the brother of Kami himself, and thus he should be very powerful and he believed himself to be superior to everyone but his own brother and took pride in his own strength. Now imagine his surprise when this human spirit started forcing him to defend himself or get beaten.

They say the battle between the two went on for months with neither fighter letting the other gain the upper hand. During the fight, the man had somehow materialized a weapon 

strong enough to cut even through the Shinigami's superior skin. The fight got so bad that in the end, there was no other way to stop them but for Kami himself to intervene. He stopped the two and marveled over the power wielded by this man. The man's power was so powerful, yet so different from that of himself and Kami's brother.

After weeks of thinking, Kami decided on the best choice. He decided to let the man continue living as he was if he would just keep protecting the spirits of Rukongai from the attacking enemy hollows.

For many years the man kept fighting to keep the villagers safe from attacking hollows, and eventually his powers started affecting some of the other spirits as well. They developed weaker versions of his abilities, yet no less impressive as they all differed slightly from each other. With time and training, the individuals with the power built their own village and named it Seireitei.

For many years the man and his warriors protected us from the evil spirits, and at one point the Shinigami himself had even started teaching them how to help him do his job and thus increase the stability between the living and the dead. This was the birth of the new generation of Shinigami, and was how every empowered individual would be known as. It all seemed to go so well until one day.

The man decided he needed bigger challenges as his power had grown so great that not even the original Shinigami would be able to defeat him. Knowing of only one being stronger than the Shinigami, he foolishly decided to fight Kami. He attacked, and the two fought for many years without rest. The fight between the two is said to have split the living world into several different dimension, each with a different future coming.

In the end, Kami defeated the man. Saddened by the way this man had lost himself to his power, Kami decided that this man's power was not to be wielded by a mortal spirit without knowing for sure that the spirit had the strength to take it, and the only spirit able to stay uncorrupted when gifted with the power of the gods, are the completely pure spirits.

Kami let the new Shinigami keep up their good work, but at one point they stopped protecting and helping Rukongai. The burden of being death gods and helping spirits pass from the mortal realm and into ours was too much for them, and in the end they decided that Rukongai was less important.

Now, many years have passed since the birth of the Shinigami. The tale of the man protecting us all from ourselves was forgotten, and with that also his name. The only ones to remember were a small group in the 78th district of Rukongai where the man lived before he moved to Seireitei. The group swore an oath back then, promising each other not to forget about the man who changed the world. The group would keep the secret, and their ancestors would continue their oath until someone of equal power… a perfectly pure soul would appear.



That very group made this room to hold their meetings Naruto, and Ban is the last surviving member of the original group, and he let me swear the oath as well so we could share this burden between us. We have known all our lives that on our shoulders rested the responsibility of knowing a secret only known by Kami himself and the oldest of the Shinigami.

For as long as I can remember, all my life I have had dreams, telling me about events that would happen in the future. I foresaw the death of my parents in a hollow attack, I saw my own children die by the hand of Rukongai bandits, and I have seen the Shinigami wars against the hollows happen years before they took place. This has been a hard burden for me to carry, but also one I have taken great pride in as I could also see that I would be the one to find the pure soul.

I saw the soul come here from a world where fighting and death was as common as breathing air.

I saw the soul enter this plane somewhere between two districts.

I saw the spirit gain the power we have known about only in the legends of the man, and I have seen him surpass him.

I know it is you I have been waiting for Naruto. It is you who will be the one who helps Rukongai out of the darkness, and I know you will be the one to bring peace.

But I know the Shinigami will try to find you and recruit you as their own if they noticed someone with a spirit sensitivity as high as yours, as your powers holds the greatest potential since the first Shinigami himself walked this plane.

I know this is a lot to take in Naruto, but we can't let the Shinigami get their hands on you, because you're our only hope. As I told you, Rukongai is split into several districts where the plus souls can live their afterlives, but there is one problem. There are eighty known districts, and the higher the number of the district, the more soul's lives there and thus it becomes more dangerous. When you get pass the sixtieth district, murder isn't unusual and some of the spirit sensitive children has to steal to survive since we all live in poverty.

With your power, you can help this corrupted society grow stronger again. You can help us see that peace isn't as farfetched as some people would think, and that we are not helpless. You can put an end to poverty and the gangs, stopping the bandits and helping the people in need. I know you can do it Naruto, and I hope you will agree to carry this heavy burden and save Soul Society from the inevitable collapse."

Naruto was completely and utterly shocked.

These guys wanted him to be some sort of demigod and save this world from itself? To protect the innocent villagers from the cruel fate death gave them, or is that life?



Naruto felt cooped up and needed air, and before Takusen and Ban could do anything, Naruto had fled out the door and vanished into the busy streets of the village.

Ban was starting to become frantic.

"We have to find him Takusen, or they will… we can't let this chance fly past us, even if we need to somehow force him into understanding. Please, help me find him and convince him to help!"

Takusen just walked back to the couch and leaned back before he turned his head to Ban.

"I just told this kid that he alone holds the power to surpass all shinigami in this world, and that he was the only chance of survival this corrupt and uncaring world has. How old do you think he is? 14? Maybe 15 years at most? I think Naruto has earned the right to cool his head and see for himself how this place works and how much he is needed."

Ban calmed down a little bit and closed the door again. He had waited his entire life to meet the promised one, so he could wait a little longer if that's what the boy needed.

Takusen smiled at his friend and produced a deck of cards from the folds of his clothing.

"Don't worry Ban, the boy will come back. But as we wait for him, what do you say we settle our score from last time?"

Ban smirked and let out a nervous chuckle as Takusen started dealing the cards for the game they had played every time they met their entire lives. Ban knew they didn't play with money, but you wouldn't get far with money in Rukongai anyway.

No, these guys didn't play with money. They played with something far more expensive and rare in these dark times, a something that only a few people could claim they had intact without lying.

They played with their pride!

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX

Naruto is running as fast as he can.

What do these guys think of him? Do they really believe he holds the key to the salvation of this world?

How could they ask such a thing of him?

Why was it always him?

Hadn't Kami asked enough of him already?



The day he was born he was chosen to hold the greatest tailed demon known to mankind inside him for the remainder of his life.

The very same day his father had died sealing said demon in him, and his mother had decided that Naruto was not her son but rather the demon he kept in him.

He had lost his family that day, and he had to grow up with the hatred of the villagers and not knowing that he still had family out there. Family who didn't want him!

His life hadn't been a dance on roses.

Or maybe it was? If the roses had a lot of thorns and you were dancing barefoot. Yeah, it might have been a dance on roses, but he had shouldered his burden with great strength and never really let anyone keep him down for long.

He had always been his own person, and he even gave his life for the sake of his ideals.

He had always been his own person, but not even in death would he be allowed to live for himself. He was still supposed to shoulder the burden of everyone even here?

Why was it always him?

Why couldn't he just get his rest? Hadn't he deserved to rest in his afterlife after all the pain and suffering he went through in his life? Was the only reason for his existence to fight so everyone else could be happy?

Why was it always him?

Naruto stopped his blind running as he heard a scream from one of the back alleys. He looked around and saw the people just carry on walking as if they didn't hear anything.

He ran up to a strong looking guy and shook his arm.

"Didn't you hear the yell from the alley? Aren't you going to see if someone could need your help?" he yelled as he shook the man's arm and pointed towards the alley as another scream entered his ears.

The man just shook himself loose and kept on walking.

"I didn't hear anything kid. Mind your own business!"

Naruto was stunned for a second. Someone was screaming for help, yet no one seemed to be willing to lift a finger to help. Takusen's words rung through his mind as he understood how this world had turned out.

They were afraid!



They're all too afraid to risk their own hides to help each other out when they need help, and some people were ready to take advantage of this fear to steal, plunder, rape and kill like bloody bandits. How could they have sunken this low? How could the morale of a village sink to this low?

Naruto spun around and ran into the alley to see if he could still be there in time to help whoever needed it.

As he ran around a corner, he could see four big-looking men stand with their backs towards him as they snickered and pointed at something. One of the men moved and Naruto could see another man, probably the leader of the group, in the process or ripping the clothes off of a young girl not much older than Naruto.

Naruto tried to summon his chakra to scare them, but it wouldn't come to him. But where the feeling of chakra usually felt like a warm flow of water erupting from inside him, he could now feel the power in the very air around him. The power was everywhere!

The walls and the ground, the trash bins and even the clothing he was wearing. They all held the power, and what good is power if you're not about to use it.

Feeling surer of himself, Naruto walked up to one of the men and poked him on his broad back.

"Hey grunt, would you please all just stand over there while I kill your leader for what he just did to that girl?"

Naruto could hear the poor girl whimper as the boss ripped her clothes off, but stopped to stare at the boy who dared interrupt his fun-time. He let go of the girl and stood up, looking at Naruto and sneering.

"You just did something very foolish little boy!" the leader sneered as he stood in front of his grunts who all looked ready to pounce on Naruto and wring his neck.

Naruto, as cocky as ever, just pointed at the leader and looked at him with a defiant glare in his blue eyes.

"It is you who did something foolish you sorry excuse for a gorilla."

The jab at his looks didn't go unnoticed as the leader ran at Naruto with his fist ready to pound Naruto into oblivion, wherever that is. His right fist was headed towards Naruto's face at astounding speeds, but Naruto just stood there as if ready to take the blow.

In the last second, Naruto stepped a little to his left and grabbed the man's arm before flipping him over his shoulder and throwing him into the trash bin located somewhere behind him.



Naruto stood up again, this time in a defensive pose as he looked at the bandits getting ready to start at him. He looked at the scared girl and locked eyes with her and he gave her a comforting smile.

"You should head along and get back home now. You don't have to see me take care of this lowlife and his bitches, and I don't want you to get hurt."

The girl stood up on shaking legs and looked at Naruto again. She gave him a small smile of gratitude before she turned around and ran out of the alley and to the safety of wherever.

Naruto turned back to the fight at hand and saw the furious look on the bandit leader's face as his plaything got away. Naruto smirked and got his attention again.

"Well then, shall we dance?"

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX

"DAMN YOU TO HELL BAN"

Takusen was standing up and shaking his finger at a laughing Ban. Once again, Takusen had lost their incredibly awesome game of "Go Fish", and Takusen was a horrible loser.

He was all but ready to gut Ban once and for all to wipe that smug smirk off of his face, but they were interrupted by a knock on the door.

Ban walked over and opened the small hatch and looked outside.

"Password!" he said as Takusen stifled a giggle. They both knew who the visitor was, but that doesn't mean they couldn't mess around a little bit.

"Go fuck yourself," was the answer from the other side of the door.

Ban looked at Takusen for a second before he shrugged his shoulders.

"I think I might do that later, but I guess we should let him in first?" he said with a shiteating grin firmly planted on his face.

Takusen nodded his head and tried to avoid looking into Ban's eyes in fear of losing the will to not break into laughter.

Ban opened the door, and in stepped a slightly ruffled looking Uzumaki Naruto.

"I accept the burden you god damned old geezers, but I hate you for forcing this on me!" Naruto said with a sour look on his face which the other two men just shrugged off as they had years of experience dealing with people disliking them. There's a reason why neither of them are married after all!

Takusen walked up to Naruto and held out his hand and locked eyes with Naruto once again.



"I'm sorry for doing this to you Naruto, but there's no one else who could do the same."

Ban was the next to walk up, and he put a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"On the behalf of the guardians of the lost history, I now welcome the promised one into our ranks. I thank you Uzumaki Naruto, for within you lies The Ultimate Power!"

--

**_AN/_**_ So I didn't rewrite the other two chapters anyway. I have spent the last couple of months deciding what I wanted to do with this, and I even played with the thought of taking it down until I was ready to continue. But because a lot of you guys gave me such warm reviews, I decided to work over the plot and decided that the Naruto part was not important to the future plot. Of course, they will meet again, but I feel as if I parted in a way that was satisfactory to me, and that's the most important thing! If I'm not pleased with the story, then why the hell should I keep on writing it?_

_So I hope you enjoyed the start of this, as the original plot has changed A LOT! Naruto will still be on his own, but he will start off as the promised one who's fate is to keep peace in the highest numbered districts of Rukongai and help rebuild what had been when the first one had protected them. Of course, there will be plenty of Shinigami to come, and Naruto will fight with them as the time moves on. Remember that this will be a long travel, and although it might sound boring and such at the moment, I hope that the plot I have in mind for the future chapters won't disappoint! I'm very excited about this fic, and I know that I won't finish this in a good while. I promise there won't be another six months before I update again though… sorry about the wait!_


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